


Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off

by 50ShadesofGerardGay



Series: Liars and Monsters [1]
Category: Victorious
Genre: F/M, Half-Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-30
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2017-12-28 01:43:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 21
Words: 93,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/986168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/50ShadesofGerardGay/pseuds/50ShadesofGerardGay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"My mother always told me: 'What happens in this house stays in this house,' so mind your own business." We all have our demons and our secrets. But we're just too afraid to bring them to light so we lock them away until our lies consume us and we are left with nothing. Rated T for dark themes, baby making, and death. Bade, Cabbie, Cade-friendship</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Don't Care

* * *

_“I try to make you see my side. I always try to stay in line, but your eyes see right through. That's all they do. I'm getting buried in this place. I’ve got no room; you’re in my face. Don't say anything just go away.” – Apocalyptica_

* * *

 

It rained that day.

Then again, it rained that whole week...

Jade hated driving when it rained. She could stomach _walking_ in rain in small doses, but she would never _drive_ in it.

She wouldn't go through that again…

She should have gone home since this should be a private moment, but there was no privacy in her home. At least, not for her.

So instead, she sloshed along the sidewalk to Cat's house. Jade found herself spending the majority of her free time at Cat's. It was an escape and a relief that Jade could only find in the midst of Caterina Valentine.

Since the breakup, Jade couldn't find her escape with Beck anymore.

It’s been five weeks since they separated, but Jade still felt the sting of losing the one guy in the world who loved her. He was the only guy that she could find it in herself to love back and he was no longer hers.

She couldn’t find solace in André, or Tori, and definitely not _Robbie_. She barely considered the last two as people, so how could she run to them? Tori and Robbie were practically strangers to Jade, and Jade _hated_ strangers. She could confide in Cat—after all, they were best friends—but there was only so much the little redhead could do; Cat didn’t know what it was like to be forced to leave someone you loved when you’d been with them for nearly five years.

Mechanically, Jade moved through the rain and stepped up to Cat's front door. She banged loudly on the door, but the rain was pouring so hard that she couldn't hear it. She wondered if anyone inside did and proceeded to ring the doorbell rapidly until it hung.

After a few seconds, Cat's brother, Bryce, ripped the door open. His goofy green eyes were distorted by his bushy, furrowed brows and his goofy grin was plastered into a mocking grimace. His curly brown hair was pressed flat on one side like he’d just woken from a nap. He wore a baggy T-shirt and boxers, scratching his stomach once the door was open.

"I told you crazy kids to stay off my lawn!" he exclaimed in an old, tired voice as he weakly shook his free fist at Jade. She scowled and pushed him out of her way, wordlessly leaving behind a trail of rain on the carpet.

She didn’t have time for his jokes today.

She stormed up to Cat's room to find the door open and the redhead lying on her bed, hands resting on her stomach, as she stared at her ceiling. She had her headphones on and legs crossed as her foot moved to the beat of a song. She was also quietly humming along.

Jade entered the room and slammed the door shut, casing the walls to rattle and starling the smaller girl. Cat threw her headphones off, sat up, and smiled in amusement when she saw Jade.

"You're all soggy!" she exclaimed airily.

Jade rolled her eyes and made her way to Cat's personal bathroom. "I gotta pee," she grumbled. Cat gasped happily and quickly scurried into the pink bathroom before Jade did. Again, Jade scowled.

"Out," she snarled. Cat squeaked in fear and scuttled out of the room, gently closing the door after leaving.

Once Cat had gone, Jade sighed softly to herself. She pulled the crumbled brown bag from beneath her black hoodie and pulled the white box from inside.

 _It's just to be sure_ , she reminded herself. _Just to stop freaking out_.

Jade was on the pill, as she needed to be, but you were still supposed to get a period every now and then. She always kept track of them—it was easy when you only had four a year—and she'd missed one. She knew it was normal to miss one or two as a teenager, but that was if you weren't taking contraceptives.

 _Jade West_ didn't panic, but _everyone_ worries at some point…

Her pants made a disgusting _slick_ as she slid them off and clung to her cold body. She held her breath as she peed on that little stick of fate. Thousands of thoughts whisked through her head, but she refused to let them fill her mind completely. Her thoughts were overwhelming and _Jade West_ was never overwhelmed.

_What if I’m pregnant? Could I tell Cat? What if she tells someone? What if she tells Beck? What will he do? I can’t keep this stupid baby, not with everything going on right now. I can’t go through nine months of this crap._

As the thoughts began to cloud her head, she started to feel lightheaded and her hands began to hurt.

She was still holding her breath and squeezing the test tightly.

She let out an audible sigh and replaced it with fresher air.

"Jade?" Cat called. "Are you okay in there?"

"Yeah sure," she muttered. She didn't know if Cat heard her, and she didn't care.

She felt for her phone. She hadn’t even realized she’d gotten up or put her pants back in order. She checked her phone for the time. With the way the rain had drenched her pants, it was a miracle it still worked...and the necessary three minutes had passed. Jade let out a small sigh of relief.

The wait was _agonizing_.

With shaking hands, she looked down at the test. Then she slapped her shaking hand. Jade West is _never_ scared.

With a firm grip, she brought it close enough to read. Two sadistic bars taunted her on the test's screen and she dropped it. She stepped backward, grabbing onto Cat's towel rack for support. Any other movements or actions were unimaginable.

"Crap..."

"Jade?" Cat called again. "What's wrong? Did you lock yourself in the bathroom? I did that once. Do I need to get my brother? One time he kicked a door open with his head!"

And that silly, incomprehensible sentence brought Jade back to reality.

She grabbed the test from the floor, put it back in its box, and shoved the box in the bag before hiding it under her hoodie again. She opened the door to see a scared Cat looking up at her, twirling a lock of her red hair and bouncing nervously. Jade bit her lip and contemplated telling her. _I want to tell her_ , she thought to herself, _but what good would that do? Cat isn’t going through this—and I hope she never will—so she wouldn’t be able to help me…as if I needed help. What could I_ possibly _gain from telling her? And what if she says something?_

After a long silence, she gently put her hands on Cat's shoulders and steered the eccentric girl backwards to her bed. _We promised to never keep secrets from each other_ , she reminded herself as she sat Cat down and sat beside her, looking at her feet. She sloshed a bit on the bed, but Cat could just get a maid to wash them. That was a perk of having a wealthy mother.

"If I tell you something," she began as she looked up at Cat, "Can you _promise_ me you won't tell _anyone_? Not even Tori, Beck, André, Robbie, or his stupid puppet."

Cat nodded rapidly. "Yeah, yeah," she answered eagerly. "Not a word!"

Then Jade took in a deep breath. It still felt surreal. It had only been a minute and a half since she saw those evil two bars and she wasn't sure she could say it. She was waiting for her eyes to open, tearing her away from this dream. She was waiting to wake up and be ten again, when everyone was happy (even though she hid it) and the world was right. Everything was okay up until half a year ago, but ten was always her favorite year.

She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and closed it again. She couldn't say it. She didn’t want this to be happening. She couldn't say it…

With a low, annoyed grunt, she ripped the wet paper bag out from beneath her hoodie and tore it open to reveal the white box. Cat stared at it for a moment in confusion.

"But I'm a virgin..."

Jade rolled her eyes and threw the box into Cat's lap before shooting to her soaked feet. " _I_ took the stupid test!" she shouted angrily.

Cat gasped loudly. "Did you pass?" she asked curiously.

Jade groaned in pain and slapped her forehead. Though she loved Cat to death and trusted her with her life, she'd rather claw her own eyes out than have this conversation with Cat. She wished she hadn’t said anything about the test. But there was no turning back now. And they made a promise to never keep secrets from each other. If Jade didn't finish what she started, Cat would be stuck with questions and she'd go around asking them.

Jade could picture the conversation now.

She had considered—with her current situation—that an unexpected pregnancy could happen to her just as much as the next girl, so she decided she would never be able to raise a child while she was in school.

Now that it had happened, Jade wasn’t sure if she would skip school to get rid of the baby, but it was hard for her to imagine keeping it. And if she ran out tonight and skipped school tomorrow, Cat wouldn’t grasp the concept that Jade was announcing she was pregnant until a _much_ later date. Therefore, Cat would be bothered by the previous night all day at school and she'd finally decide to say something at lunch time.

 _“Jade took a special test!” Cat announces all cheerily. For a moment she keeps her smile, and then it falls. “She came to my house last night to tell me about it, but then she got upset and wouldn’t tell me if she passed…” It’s a relief to get those words out of her head; she thought she’d_ explode _if she didn’t say them! She’s not speaking to anyone in particular so she doesn’t think she’s breaking Jade’s promise._

_Beck, however, is listening._

_“Did she take this ‘special test’ in the bathroom?” he asks curiously. Cat—actually, everyone—can hear the worry in his voice. He’s not worried about Jade though, no…he pushed her away and didn’t bother trying to bring her back; he just couldn’t deal with her drama anymore. He’s worried about being a father, though; his mother raised him right and he knows he’ll have to take care of the child and deal with Jade again…_

_Cat nods and fidgets with her fingers. “Then she handed me a little white box with a pregnancy test in it but I told her I was a virgin!”_

_Robbie chokes on his food and André does a spit take. Tori isn’t there—because in Jade’s mind, Tori doesn’t exist. Beck’s face falls. He shoots up from the table and sprints to his truck. He knows why Jade isn’t at school and he has to stop her._

_He speeds to the women’s clinic because he thinks—knows—that’s the first place Jade is going. He’s hoping, praying, that he won’t be too late; he’ll never forgive himself if he’s too late. He arrives at the clinic and rushes to the receptionist’s desk. He asks for Anastasia DeVrough, Jade’s chosen pseudonym for when she becomes a famous gothic novelist. The receptionist, who’s obviously trying to flirt with him, tells him that Anastasia came and left before ten o’ clock._

_He’s so enraged by those words that he throws everything on the desk to the floor and smashes the closest window, scaring the receptionist. She won’t say anything because she’d hate to see a pretty face get in trouble. And while Jade likes it when Beck’s mad, she’d hate this because he hates her._

_Around twelve-thirty, he arrives at Jade’s house. Liam isn’t home; he’s probably at a bar or something. Beck kicks in her front door and it startles Jade, even behind her closed bedroom door upstairs. She turns her music down and listens to the loud stomping of Beck running up the stairs. By the time barges into her room, Jade’s staring at her wall clinging to her knees._

_“Why didn’t you say anything?” he screams. “Why didn’t you tell me about it?”_

_“You didn’t need to know,” she mumbles. She keeps her eyes on the wall because she can’t bear to face him._

_“What do you mean I didn’t need to know?” he shouts back at her. He refines himself to her doorway because he’s afraid he might do something he regrets if he leaves; he can barely even see straight. “That was our child, Jade! You can’t get rid of it without my consent!”_

_Jade scoffs and snaps out of her pity party. She shoots off the bed. “What the hell do you know?” she shouts. “You’re not the one that has to carry the stupid thing. You’re not the one who’d have to finish senior year with a kid on their arm!”_

_Beck kicks the doorframe. “I don’t care!” he exclaims. “That was my child! That was a life growing inside you that you killed! How could you—”_

_“Shut up!” she shrieks. “It wasn’t your child! I couldn’t—” She gasps, realizing she slipped up. She falls back onto her bed and lowers her head, refusing to say anything else._

_Beck grabs the doorframe for support. He promised himself he wouldn’t worry about Jade anymore, but the thought of her getting pregnant by another guy is devastating. He clears his throat, trying to find his voice. He doesn’t want to ask, but he needs to know._

_And knowing Jade, she’d tell him the truth and—_

With a deep, devastated sigh, Jade snapped back to reality and plopped back down on Cat's bed. She held her hands in her lap and looked at the rain chipped nail polish on her claw-like nails.

With a swift motion, she turned to look at her anxiously waiting friend.

Then she uttered those life-shattering three words.

"Cat…I'm pregnant…"

Cat gasped and squealed in excitement before placing her hand on Jade's soaked stomach. "There's a baby in your belly!" she exclaimed loudly. She looked up at Jade in astonishment. "I wonder if it looks like a sea monkey," she uttered in fascination.

Jade growled in annoyance, threw Cat's hand off her stomach, and shot to her feet once more. She began to pace back and forth, her hands in her damp, wavy hair.

"You don't _get it_ , Cat," she forced out. "I _can't_ have a baby! I'm only seventeen!"

Cat bounced to her feet and stood in front of Jade, placing her hand on the damp girl's shoulders. "You could give it up for adoption!” she offered with a hopeful smile, “My mommy did that once and you could too!” Then her smile fell and she looked down at Jade's flat stomach hidden under clinging clothes.

"I don't think Beck would like that though..."

Jade pulled away from Cat and sat back down on the bed with her head bowed. "I don't know if it's his," she muttered slightly; her voice was barely audible, but Cat still heard it. Cat knew a lot of Jade’s secrets, as Jade knew _all_ of Cat’s, but Cat didn’t know Jade’s darkest secret; she still thought Jade had only ever slept with Beck…

Cat gasped loudly and fell down beside her friend. "Then who's is it?" she asked worriedly.

" _None of your business_!" Jade snapped, her head shooting to the redhead.

Cat flinched and frowned. "That's a weird name..." she mumbled with a shaking voice. Her eyes threatened tears and Jade sighed deeply.

She opened her mouth to give a rare apology when her phone rang in her drenched pocket. She didn't even have to look at it to know who was calling...

Jade bit her lip for a moment, contemplating on what to do. She knew she was in trouble since he was calling, but what else was new?

She decided to answer her phone. The picture on the caller ID made her not want to, but she knew she had to.

"I got caught up with something," she said vaguely. There was yelling, but Cat couldn't really hear it. Jade didn't flinch at the loudness; she was used to it. "I know, I know," she breathed, "I'll be there in a minute."

Then she put her phone back in her pocket and turned back to Cat. "I gotta go," she announced. She pointed a chipped black claw at the petite girl. "Don't tell _anyone_ I'm pregnant," she snarled.

With wide eyes, Cat nodded wordlessly. Then Jade ripped Cat's bedroom door open and clomped down the stairs before she trudged home.

The rain was still pouring a massive curtain, but Jade ignored it as she clung to herself. Each step she took splashed water off the sidewalk and into the street. She stopped to watch the runoff fly drown the side of the street. As it spilled into the sewer through the barred opening on the sidewalk, she wished she could fly with it.

Instead, she had to continue her murky journey home, preparing herself to black out so she wouldn't have to think about what was to happen next. It was a long walk from Cat's house to her own, but Jade was thankful for that. It would give her more time to forget; it would give her more time alone, more time where she could pretend to be safe.

The rain began to weigh down her clothes, which made it harder for her to walk. She was using a lot of energy trying to get home, and that meant she would have less energy to fight him off. But then again, she was tired of fighting. She was tired of trying to stand up to him, only to be knocked off her feet.

But now there was life inside her. She knew she wouldn't have the heart to give up the baby if she found it in herself to keep it, so it was automatically decided that she couldn't give up on herself.

Even if she didn't have the energy to protect herself, it would be burned in her soul to fight for her unborn child...

* * *

**_I try to make it through these lies. That’s all I do._ **

* * *

When Jade neared her house, the door ripped open and a tall figure wearing a white undershirt over baggy jeans stood in its frame. She could tell it was him through the thick shroud of rain because of the brown hair that had grown slightly from its buzz-cut. His piercing blue-green eyes beamed through the rain, filling Jade to the core with fear.

That…and her father was either at work or heading to the strip club by now.

Most people didn't know Jade had a brother. They didn't know she shared the mixture of her father's cold, green emeralds and her mother's warm, blue sapphires with a man of twenty-three. They didn't know she'd dyed her hair black because of _him_ ; they all thought she did it because too many people kept mistaking the back of her head for Tori's—and it was no secret how much she detested Tori Vega. No, they didn’t know she dyed her hair because it was the one thing she shared with her brother that she could change, the one thing she could use to deny any relation to him.

No one knew that.

That’s how she wanted it.

Right now, it was like treading through quicksand as Jade tried to get to her front porch, but she carried on.

She wasn't moving fast enough.

"Hurry up!" her brother shouted above the roar of the downpour. "Don't make me have to come out there and drag you in here!"

He did that once, dragged her into the house. It was two weeks ago, actually, and he’d pulled her back inside the house by her hair because she tried to run away from home. He didn’t take kindly to that thought.

Jade clenched her eyes shut and forced her legs to move faster in her heavy jeans. He was already pissed, and she didn't want to make it worse.

Once close enough, the monster in the doorway pulled Jade inside, slamming and locking the door behind her. She stood deathly still, her back to him, waiting for what he had to say.

"Look at me," he demanded in a soft voice, barely above a whisper. Slowly she turned to face him, her eyes wrenching open. His hands shot out to her and he gripped her tightly by her arms. "Why the hell didn’t you come straight home?" he screamed. His voice made her flinch slightly and she scowled.

"I told you to _always_ call me and tell me where you are, where you're going, and when you're getting your stupid ass back home!" he shouted. Then he released one of her arms and his hand collided with her cheek. She heard a bone in her neck pop, but that was normal.

He pushed her and she stumbled backwards, but held her ground otherwise.

"Or are you so stupid that I have to teach you another lesson?" he spat. He chuckled darkly and crossed his arms, tapping his index finger lightly on his chin. "If I can't get through to _you_ ," he began sinisterly, "Maybe I'll just have to pay your little friend Cat a visit since you two are so close."

"You leave her alone!" Jade screamed, pushing her brother without even thinking.

Big mistake.

As he hit the door, he was genuinely shocked…that she would do something so stupid; he thought she would have learned by now. His mouth twisted into a scarring grimace and his blue-green eyes filled with hate as he lunged for her. Arms outstretched, he latched onto her clothing and knocked her down to the floor beside the sofa. His hand became balled into a fist and he brought it down across her face several times.

"Don't...you... _ever_...push...me," he growled out between hits. Jade let out small noises of pain as blood began to fly from her mouth, so he put his hand free hand against her throat. She started to choke as he continued to hit her and her hands flew to his wrist trying to pull his hand away from her larynx.

She knew it was no use; his years in the military had made him greatly stronger, making it near impossible for her to ever fight him off. But maybe it was a survival instinct.

And suddenly, the blows stopped. His grip on her throat softened and air rushed back into her lungs from her deep gasps. His hand moved back to her face though, this time covering her mouth.

"If you _ever_ do anything like that again," he threatened through gritted teeth, "I'll kill you and all your stupid little friends, making it all look like accidents. Do you understand me?"

Tears began to well in her eyes, but she fought them back as she nodded. Right now she didn't fear for herself; she feared for the lives of her best friend and her baby. Maybe she cared about Beck, too—no, she _definitely_ cared about Beck—but the others didn't matter to her.

They were nothing…just like she was…

He smiled slightly and brought his face closer to Jade's. "You screw a lot of things up," he hissed, "Why don't you find out what it's like?" He pulled her face back by her mouth and slammed it roughly against the hardwood floor. "Why don't you find out what it's like to get screwed, whore?" he bellowed at the top of his lungs. Tears started to brim his eyes, and he let them fall on her face to remind her of the pain she inflicted on her.

This was a ritual now: he'd beat her up a bit, call her a whore, and maybe beat her up a little bit more as his scorching tears fell upon her.

He'd done it ever since their mother was laid to rest six feet under. He blamed Jade for what happened, and Jade did too. He blamed her because she’d been in the car too, but she survived…

After the funeral, her father busied himself with work and beer and strippers, his three favorite things. So whenever Liam West, Sr. spent his time passed out drunk or hiding his sorrows at work or the clubs, Junior took it upon himself to make Jade pay for what she'd done.

The sexual assault began six weeks ago when Liam decided to try and drown his misery in some of his father's poison. He was buzzed when he attacked Jade, so he was aware of what he was doing. He came into her room, pinned her to the bed, and managed to remove as much clothing as he sought necessary to have his way with her. Then he left her shattered on her bed, clinging to her sheets and rocking slowly as she tried to pretend it didn't happen.

As it happened more and more, she continued to pretend. Sometimes it would happen in her room and she would pretend it didn't, but most of the time Liam wouldn't make it that far and it would happen somewhere out in the open like the hallway or the kitchen...and Jade would pretend it didn't happen. She would pretend she was being hurt in the ways she loved and—sometimes—that Beck would be the one to have the balls to do it to her.

Tonight was one of those nights.


	2. Hush

* * *

_“You say that you’re never gonna leave me. Don’t say you’ll never find somebody like me. Well keep quiet baby, I don’t wanna to hear you speak. The words you say, they don’t mean a thing.” – Emily Osment ft. Josh Ramsay_

* * *

"What's wrong, Jade?" Cat asked as she sat at the empty table where her friend sat. Jade refused to look at her. She wished Cat hadn't even bothered to walk up to her. She wished Cat would have just left her alone so she could torture her Mexican food in peace.

"Nothing," Jade spat harshly. "I'm perfectly-" she stabbed her burrito so hard that brown bean mush went flying and almost hit Cat in the face "-fine."

Cat frowned and sighed loudly. "You're being really scary, Jade,” she whined. “Babies are supposed to make you _happy_!”

“Shut up!” Jade hissed. “I told you not to say anything about the _b-a-b-y_!”

Cat giggled happily. “ _No_ , silly,” she denied, “You said don’t say anything to _anyone_ , but _you_ already know!”

Jade slammed her hand down on the tortilla and more brown mush went flying, just barely missing Cat. “I said shut _up_ ,” she screeched. “Don’t talk about it _at all_! Don’t even say anything about it to me, _got it_?”

“Don’t say anything about what?” André asked as he sauntered over to the girls. “And why are you two sitting over here away from the world?”

“Because we can,” Jade answered quickly, “Now go away!”

“She’s not in a good mood,” Cat announced with a big pout. “She didn’t get enough sleep.” Jade growled in response but said nothing else as she continued to carve into her burrito.

“My brother didn’t get a lot of sleep once,” Cat piped up, “Then we found him on our neighbor’s roof a week later.”

“Your brother has some _serious_ problems,” André pointed out.

“That’s why he failed Math five times,” Cat agreed with a warm grin.

With that, Jade groaned loudly and shot up from her seat at the table, slamming her burrito down in a nearby trashcan before walking angrily away.

“I’ll be glad when she gets more sleep,” André huffed.

“I don’t think she’ll—” Cat started to add to his words when a tall boy with short black hair, piercing brown eyes, and a hard-jawed, devilishly handsome face grabbed her from behind.

“Guess who,” he smiled in her ear.

Cat squealed happily and spun around in his arms to hug him tightly. “Daniel!” she exclaimed before kissing him deeply. “What are you doing here?”

He kissed her softly on the nose. “I was excused from school to go to a friend’s wedding, but they called it off because the bride got food poisoning,” he answered.

Cat gasped. “Oh no!” she exclaimed. “Is she gonna be okay?”

Danny simply shrugged. “I’m sure she will be,” he assured her, “But it doesn’t matter if I’m with my best girl.” Cat squealed happily again and kissed Danny deeply. They really were the perfect couple…after they got past the Tori situation.

“I’ve got a big surprise in store for you tonight,” he announced.

“On our date?” she asked ecstatically.

“Well, would you look at that?” André interjected awkwardly, pointing to a table at the other side of the Asphalt Cafe. “Tori, and Robbie are over there. Yeah, I’m coming guys!” Then he dashed off without a word of goodbye to the couple.

“What are we doing for our date?” Cat inquired as if André had never said anything. Danny just smiled at her in reply.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you,” he reminded her. She started to pout, but he quickly cupped her chin and gently lifted her head. “Don’t pout, Kitten,” he pleaded gently. “I don’t wanna see you sad.” Slowly, he leaned in closer and breathed softly against her lips. “I love it when you smile.”

Cat giggled happily and wrapped her arms around Danny’s neck. “I love you,” she smiled warmly.

Danny chuckled nervously and kissed her again.

“How about we leave school a little early today so we can get ready for our date?” he questioned, changing the subject.

“Kay, kay!” Cat exclaimed happily.

* * *

  ** _You better_** ** _give it up, you’re gonna get hurt._**  


* * *

“Have you noticed anything… _off_ about Jade?” Tori asked as André came back to the usual table.

“Yeah,” Robbie added. “Like…doesn’t she seem meaner than usual?”

“She’s probably still upset about her and Beck,” André offered as he took his seat. He started eating his taco salad before he spoke again. “Just give her some space and she’ll be fine.”

“Who’ll be fine?” Beck asked as he walked up to the three with his chalupa in hand.

“Cat,” André answered without hesitation. “I was tellin’ Tori and Robbie how she’s got a date with Danny and how she’ll be fine.”

“So why does she need space?” Beck questioned, dipping his chalupa in sour cream before eating it.

“André thinks we’re breathing down her throat about Cat’s date,” Tori responded before André could. “We’re just…so worried about…Cat.”

Beck smirked as he took another bite of his chalupa. Shreds of lettuce fell from his mouth and onto a napkin he’d placed down. “You guys are horrible liars,” he announced.

“We are not!” Robbie cried. “I’d like to think we’re _excellent_ liars.”

Tori and André groaned at Robbie’s smug stupidity. “Someone get me away from this idiot!” Rex demanded angrily.

“It’s okay if you’re talking about Jade,” Beck announced, pulling his water bottle from his book bag. “She _has_ been a little more upset than usual, but if she wants to talk about it—” He took a swig from his bottle and looked at them all directly “—she’ll talk about it. Andre’s right; space would be good for her.”

He took another bite of his chalupa after putting another big glob of sour cream on it. “As for Cat,” he began, “I don’t think it’s any of our business what she does on her date.”

“But I don’t trust that guy!” Robbie whined. “He hurt her once already, so how do we know he won’t do it again?”

“Thanks for reminding me,” Tori spat, shooting from the table and leaving. She still didn’t forgive herself for kissing Danny and almost ruining his relationship with Cat. Cat could easily forgive Tori for what happened, but Tori had always been hard on herself.

“See what you did?” André hissed lowly, punching Robbie in the arm. Then he jumped from the table running after her and calling her name.

“I’m sorry!” Robbie shouted after them.

“Don’t bother,” Beck started, “They’re gone. You’re really letting your feelings for Cat affect your friendships…”

“I know,” Robbie sighed. “But I really like her, Beck. Danny doesn’t deserve her. I can be so much better for her!”

Rex laughed scornfully. “You wouldn’t know how to handle her!” he accused.

Beck chuckled slightly. “I gotta side with Rex on this one,” he joked, “Cat’s braver than you are, stronger than you are too.”

“She is not!” Robbie denied loudly. He turned to Rex. “And I would know how to handle her!” Before Beck or Rex could say anything else, Robbie ran from the table grunting in annoyance.

The bell rang moments after Robbie left and Beck laughed softly to himself at how silly his love-struck friend was. He finished off his chalupa and made his way to his next class.

* * *

  ** _You better give it up or you’re gonna get hurt._**  


* * *

_Dear diary,_

_Tonight’s my date with Daniel, yay! I can’t wait to see him again. I know I saw him a few hours ago but I really miss him! He’s so sweet and nice and funny and adorable and I love him! He’s really nice to me and he’s been trying really hard not to be a bad guy anymore. I know I should be upset that he cheated on me, and I am, but he’s been so good to me. He apologized for kissing Tori and I believe him._

_He says he’s got a big surprise for me and I can’t wait! I bet it’s a unicorn or…or a kitten! Oh what if he got me a kitten?! I bet she’s so pretty and has fluffy white fur with big green eyes and a bushy little tail._

_But what if it’s not a kitten? What if he wants to do that thing Jade and Beck used to do? I’ve never done that before, so what if I’m not good enough? What if he doesn’t like me like that? My mommy says that’s how I can make my own little kittens, so what if that happens? Oh yay! If that happens then Jade’s baby can play with my baby! We can dress them up together and let them wear cute little baby clothes! My mommy won’t like my baby, but I will. I’ll love her forever and ever and ever!_

_Oh, there’s Daniel! I hope it’s a pretty surprise! I’ll talk to you later, Diary!!_

_XOXOXO, Cat_

 

Cat closed her diary and stored it between her mattress and bedpost so her brother wouldn’t find it. The last time he found her diary he ate half of it and made a papier-mâché duck out of the rest. Hopefully he wouldn’t find this one.

“Cat!” her mother called up the stairs, “Your little boyfriend’s here! He looks nice. If you don’t go out with him, I will!”

Cat giggled and ran down the stairs, her pink frilly dress ruffling behind her as she bounced along. As soon as she was within three feet of Danny, she jumped into his arms and kissed him deeply.

“I’ll just leave you two alone,” her mother mumbled awkwardly as she made her way to the kitchen. Neither Cat nor Danny heard her.

“I can’t wait for my surprise!” Cat cried excitedly once they broke the kiss.

Danny chuckled slightly. “I saved your surprise for the end of the date,” he told her. “You’ll just _have_ to be patient.”

Cat pouted. “Do I _really_?” she whined. She whimpered softly when Danny nodded in response. Then she huffed slightly and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go, go, go!” she demanded, pulling him out the door. He simply laughed and pulled the door closed before rushing with Cat to his car.

* * *

**_You better give it up or you’re gonna get hurt._ **

* * *

The date started like their dates usually did: Danny took Cat out to dinner at a nice restaurant where she ate the fanciest food on the menu, and then the two went to see a cute romantic comedy that Cat saw advertised on TV. Like always, they held each other’s hand while they ate dinner and Cat laid her head down on Danny’s shoulder during the movie. They shared food and kisses and Cat’s hand circled Danny’s knee in the dark theater, teasing him like she loved to do.

Danny didn’t, however, take Cat back to her home like he usually did on their dates.

“Is my surprise in your house?” Cat questioned innocently. She hoped it was a cake…or red velvet cupcakes! She loves red velvet cupcakes…and chocolate covered sugar cookies!

“It is,” Danny answered slowly. His palms were starting to sweat as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. His legs were shaking slightly with anticipation as he slowed the car down and his arms began to jerk as he pulled into the driveway. A lump began to form in his throat as he parked and helped Cat out of the car. He feared that if he spoke, it would fall out with his voice box.

“Let’s go up to my room,” he suggested, his voice cracking slightly. Everything was still there.

“Your voice is funny!” Cat pointed out with an adorable smile, causing Danny to laugh nervously and to wring his hands. Her smile fell and worry filled its spot. “Are you okay?”

Danny nodded quickly. “Yeah,” he answered breathlessly as he led her up the stairs. “I’m just…I’m fine.”

Once they reached his room, Danny slowly closed the door behind Cat and took in a deep breath. “Cat,” he breathed.

“Look at all the pretty candles!” she exclaimed happily, pointing to the ones around his bed. Tall white candles stood on Danny’s windowsill, his bedside table, and any open space above the floor. Fake rose petals (because they were easier to clean up than real ones) circled the perimeter of his bed and a pile of them lay on top of his comforter. The lights were dim and the room smelled like lilacs, Cat’s favorite flower.

“Cat,” he called again, a little louder. That lump was coming back to his throat and he felt like it was going to choke him. She looked back to him with wide, curious eyes. “Ca-can you sit down on the bed please?” he stammered out.

“But I don’t want to mess up the pretty flowers…”

“It’s okay…you can mess them up…”

“But they’re so pretty!”

“ _Cat!_ ”

When she shrank back in fear, he realized he was yelling at her and becoming impatient. He sighed and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I just want this night to be special. Please sit down?”

“Why is tonight so special?” Cat wondered innocently. Her face lit up. “Does it have something to do with my surprise?”

The warmth and innocence in her voice calmed Danny down a little and started to melt away the lump in his throat. He slowly walked over to her and sat beside her, taking her hands in his. “Do you know what today is?” he prompted with a small smile.

“It’s our anniversary!” she answered, clapping her hands at knowing she got the answer right. She jumped on Danny’s lap and kissed him deeply, wrapping her arms around his neck and smiling brightly into the kiss. “Why else would you take me on this fancy date and take me back to your house?” she asked after the kiss. “You _never_ do that!”

Danny chuckled nervously and gently lifted Cat off his lap and put her back in her original spot on the bed. “Tonight’s a really special night, Cat,” he told her. He took in a deep breath. “We’ve been dating for a year, tonight, and there’s only one way I can show how much I feel for you. You mean the world to me, Cat.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little white box.

“But I’m too young to get married!” she gasped, holding her chest in shock.

Danny smiled, predicting her words. “No,” he breathed, “I’m not asking you to marry me.” He opened the box to reveal a little silver Claddagh ring with a red gem in place of the heart.

“It’s like from Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Jade _loves_ that show.”

Danny chuckled again. “That’s kinda where I got the idea from,” he stated. “But this ring has been a symbol in my family for generations. It’s an Irish symbol of love, marriage, and—most of all—faithfulness. I want to be able to put this ring on your finger and know you’ll always be mine. It’s a promise ring that I hope will turn into your wedding ring one day.”

Cat squealed happily and jumped back onto Daniel’s lap, kissing him deeply. During the kiss he slipped the ring out of the box and slid it onto her right ring finger. He replaced his hands around her waist and continued kissing her deeply. His hands slunk down to her outer thighs and he ran his cool fingertips over her bare skin. Roughly, he pulled her closer against him and picked her up off the bed, causing her to squeal inside the kiss.

Rising from the bed, he turned over and gently placed Cat down on the bed, his hands tracing every curve of her leg like a child examining a new toy. His lips broke from hers for only a moment and found the warm, beating skin of her neck. He kissed it gently—roughly—and Cat let out subtle moans from a feeling she’d never felt before.

When Danny’s hands trailed up her body to her chest, she stopped him. He continued to kiss her neck.

“What are you doing?” she asked in her smallest voice. She was working to hide her nervousness; she never wanted to be scared around Danny.

“It’s okay,” he whispered breathlessly, returning his lips back to her neck. “I love you, Cat.”

Cat’s breath hitched and she grabbed Danny by the sides of his head. “You love me?” she repeated.

Danny stopped kissing her neck and looked up at her, his face barely inches from hers. “Of course I do,” he breathed. “You’re the only girl for me, Cat. I’d do anything for you.”

Cat breathed in happiness and kissed Danny lovingly. “I love you too,” she whispered. Then she started to kiss his nose, his cheek, and his lips again before his lips returned to her neck. A hickey was forming, but she’d be able to hide it with her hair because of its color and length.

Eventually Danny’s hands moved back to her thighs. His fingers hooked the edge of her panties and Cat could feel his body jerk as he tried to stop himself from ripping them off her. Instead, he forced his hands further north to her dress straps. Effortlessly, he picked her up off the bed just enough to pull the zipper down and she took in a long, sharp breath as he did so. The fear of what was to come was starting to overwhelm her, but she knew she couldn’t say anything. She knew she had to keep up her smile for Danny. She knew she could be safe with Danny. She knew the ring on her finger meant he would always protect her and look after her; he would never _dream_ of hurting her.

Before sliding her dress straps off her shoulders, he unhooked her bra (after fumbling with it for a few seconds for a moment). First he slid her dress down to her navel, exposing her loosely covered chest. Then she let him pull her bra off, her lips locked on his the entire time. Her hair fanned out around her body and Danny’s hands returned to the dress at her waist. Teasing her—or hoping to—he slid it off slowly and placed his lips on her belly button. His lips trailed down her stomach, tickling her slightly and she giggled. His teeth stopped on the rim of her panties and he bit down gently on them, locking them in his mouth. Slowly, he pulled them down and Cat held her breath.

This was happening…

His clothes came off between kisses in a blur and soon he was naked in front of her. For a brief moment, she looked at him and took in every sight of him. Then she blushed and clenched her eyes shut. She couldn’t see it. She didn’t want to see it.

She wanted to enjoy it, but she wanted it to be over.

When he slid himself inside her, she sharply inhaled and clung to the covers. He asked if she was alright and she wordlessly nodded without looking at him. She couldn’t look at him, couldn’t look at his bare shoulders that would remind her that he was inside her.

“Cat,” he breathed, thrusting slowly. “It’s okay to look at me.” He kissed her nose gently. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I’ll go as fast as you want me to go; I’ll do whatever you want me to do.” She wanted more than anything to scream at him to get off her because she was scared, but he wanted this. She wanted to make him happy, even if it meant hurting herself in the process.

When he went to kissing her neck and onto kissing her chest, she let the silent tears fall. The pain was eating her away and there wasn’t anything she could do about it. So instead, she wiped her eyes and clung to him—digging her nails into his back—hoping that he would keep his promise.

She put all her hope in him.

Minutes later, the pain began to stop and as it went, Cat felt a euphoric feeling. Tingling pleasure burned through her body and her grip on Danny tightened. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her toes curled. She let out a series of moans laced with pleasure and confusion. She had no idea what was happening, even when Danny let out a low grunt and fell beside her on the bed, but she knew it was over.

He pulled her close and she put her head on his chest. He went to sleep right after, but she stayed awake for at least another hour before all that was left of the once innocent Caterina Valentine was just a deflowered, confused girl with mascara running down her face and a yearning for that brief moment of pleasure to return.


	3. Me, You, and My Medication

* * *

_“Found my way to the highway, I don't wanna tell you the state I'm in. I've had too much to smoke, too much to drink, where have I been? I feel like the stars are getting closer and the sky is closing in…and I don't know where to begin.” – Boys Like Girls_

* * *

She kept it.

She clung to the tiny sliver of hope that her brother would leave her alone if he knew about the life growing inside her. Jade hoped that, for the next nine months, she would get a break and start to heal.

After finding out about the baby, she began to walk with her hand subconsciously resting on her flat stomach. She would start wondering what it would be like watching her belly grow, feeling the baby kick, and finally holding the thing once it was out of her. Her arms would wrap around her stomach protectively as her mind wandered into dangerous territory.

_“Where the hell have you been?” Liam shouts, pushing her against the wall. Her grocery bags fall out of her hand and spill over the carpet. She always imagines that she’s going to Super Mart for the baby._

_“I told you I was going to the store to get more stuff for the baby,” she answers calmly. She can smell the liquor on his breath and she wants to vomit; it isn’t even two o’clock yet._

_“I told **you** that brat didn’t need anything!” he screams. His hand shoots out to her neck and grabs her roughly. He slams her against the wall again, rattling the hanging pictures beside her. Her hair flies wildly around her face as she involuntarily lets out a small scream upon impact. “I’m tired of you spending money on that little bastard,” he sneers. He takes her hand and places it in the doorframe before crushing her fingers with the large Oakwood door. She screams loudly in pain, knowing for sure her hand is broken this time._

_With a hard scowl, identical to Jade’s infamous trademark, he rips the door open (to remove her hand before slamming it back shut) and pulls her from the wall. He throws her behind him, turning swiftly on his heels to catch her by the back of her neck. He squeezes tightly and her good hand snaps to his wrist._

_“Stop it!” she shouts. The baby starts to cry loudly upstairs._

_“Shut up!” Liam demands, snapping his head to the baby’s room upstairs. The baby simply cries louder, wailing for his/her mother. With an exasperated grunt, he runs up the stairs—pushing Jade up by the back of her neck—up to his son/daughter’s room. The baby cries loudly, thrashing in his/her crib. Teeth grit, Liam grabs him/her by the face and picks him/her up effortlessly. “I said shut up!” he yells as he throws the baby to the ground._

_“No!” Jade shrieks as her child hits the white shag rug. Her dark makeup starts streaming down her eyes as she frantically tries to shield her screaming child with her body. Liam, however, is stronger than her and pulls her away, keeping his grip tight on her neck._

_“This will shut you up,” Liam states as he raises his leg, positioning his thick boot over her child’s face._

“No!” Jade screamed breathlessly as she shook awake in her seat. She wasn’t at home, she wasn’t with her brother fearing for her child’s life, and she was still pregnant. She must have fallen asleep; Liam kept her up all night (which was no different than any other night) and she’d been researching things about pregnancy when he finally decided to sleep at three in the morning; she probably only got two hours of sleep last night.

“If you don’t agree with my lesson, Jade,” Sikowitz began, “You are more than welcome to come up here and teach these moldable, fragile, pink…” His voice trailed off as he grew lost in his thoughts about the human brain. It wasn’t until Jade shot from her chair and ran out the door that he came back to reality.

“Or leave!”

The slam of the door shook everyone in the classroom and it was Beck who got up to run after her. Sikowitz called after him briefly, but quickly gave up and went back to his lesson on vocal patterns for breathing.

“Jade?” Beck called, running down the hallway. He heard another door’s distant squeak as it opened behind him and turned around to watch a black blur dodge into a room. Without hesitation he raced to the end of the hall and stopped when he reached the girls’ bathroom.

No man’s land…

“Jade?” he called again. “What’s going on?”

Instead of the gothic girl responding with some snarky remark or (rare) vulnerable reply, Beck heard the sound of Jade retching, followed by a toilet flushing.

“Leave me alone,” Jade ordered weakly through the door. Inside she sat with her arms wrapped around the toilet bowl, feeling miserable in more than just the physical sense.

And here she hoped she’d be one of the 10% of women who didn’t experience morning sickness during pregnancy…

Through her loud retching, she heard the Girl’s Restroom door open. “Jade?” Cat called. “Are you in here? I saw Beck.”

“Go away, Cat,” Jade shouted between fits of vomiting. “I don’t want to talk to anyone right now.”

“Can I at least hold your hair back?” Cat asked sheepishly. “My brother held my hair back when I got food poisoning once; it made me feel better.”

There was a moment of silence, followed by the loud rackling of a stall’s lock coming undone. Cat quickly scurried over to the stall and locked it behind herself, positioning herself behind Jade. She grabbed her brooding friend’s hair neatly in her hands.

“I thought you just took the test yesterday,” Cat announced quietly.

“I did,” Jade spat between hurls. “I’m just farther along than I thought.”

“Do you want me to get my brother to take you to the doctor?”

Jade snatched some toilet paper from the roll and wiped her mouth before flushing the toilet paper and a chunk of her misery. She slowly stood up to face Cat. “Not today,” she answered. “I have things to do today.” (If she could have, she would have gone herself. But Liam’s car was being worked on and her father would never sacrifice his luxurious sports car for his children.) She stepped past Cat and unlocked the door, making her way to the sink so she could clean herself up. “We’ll go tomorrow.”

Cat frowned. “We can’t,” she informed Jade as she started to wring her hands.

Jade’s head snapped to the redhead. “And why _not_?”

Cat shrank back in fear with a small squeak. “M-my brother has community service tomorrow,” she announced sheepishly. “He broke a window in the mall and they told him he has to clean the mall for the next week. He can take us today, though…”

Jade groaned loudly, dramatically rolling her eyes. She roughly grabbed Cat by the arm and pulled her out of the bathroom. “Fine,” she snarled as they burst through the door. “We’ll go right now!”

“Jade, where are you going?” Beck shouted after them.

“None of your damn business!” she screamed back. She pulled Cat down the hall, much to the little girl’s protests, and yanked her through the front doors of the school. She stopped in front of the doors and crossed her arms, staring out into the parking lot. She didn’t want to skip school because there was always the possibility that the school would call her house. Her brother would pick up the phone because—let’s face it—he had nothing better to do with his life than sit around and wallow in his misery all day. And Jade would have to come home—Cat, and probably Beck, would pay for it if she didn’t—and he’d hurt her before she could even get a word in about the baby.

On the other hand, he’d more than likely kill her if she came home late again. She’d rather be beaten senselessly than killed.

“Call your stupid brother, Cat,” Jade demanded as she continued to stare at the multitude of cars before her.

“But that’s not his name!” Cat protested airily with a small giggle. Jade rolled her eyes but said nothing. She could see from the corner of her eye that Cat was pulling her phone from her bra. Jade thought it to be a nasty habit, but still said nothing. She waited patiently for Cat to call her brother and blocked out the little redhead’s voice as she spoke.

All Jade could think about was how she hoped they wouldn’t call home. They did it once before and Jade raised hell when she came to school the next day covered in make-up hidden bruises. If they called her house and told her brother she was skipping school, someone was going to die and it sure as sugar wasn’t going to be Jade.

A sharp finger started poking her in the side, shaking her from her thoughts. Her head snapped to the little redhead who shrunk back in fear. “My brother said he’s on the way and will be here in a little bit,” she announced. Jade nodded briefly but went back to staring at the rows and rows of student/teacher cars.

* * *

  ** _We’re all looking for something to take away the pain._**  


* * *

 Cat’s brother came fifteen minutes after the phone call and drove both girls to the women’s health clinic.

(Like the majority of teenage girls who went to the clinic, Jade used a fake name; Kennedy Oliver, that’s what she’d want to be called. She wished her mother had named her ‘Kennedy’ instead of the color in her father’s eyes; she always liked that name for some reason. And ‘Oliver’ was obviously the last name she wanted to have ever since she started dating Beck. She didn’t want to think about using her _other_ pseudonym just yet.)

Her brother stayed in the car while the girls awkwardly waited in the waiting room for Jade’s fake name to be called. Pregnant girls surrounded Jade; some were so barely pregnant it looked like they were just a little overweight and some were so very pregnant they looked like they were about to burst.

Over the course of nine months, Jade would look like all of them…

When Jade’s name was called, she told Cat to stay in the waiting room and play with a brunette and her four month old baby boy, to which the redhead enthusiastically obliged.

Jade was led to a room with one of those stupid table beds, a sonogram machine, a desk with checkup equipment (like stethoscopes, ear lights, sanitary wipes, etc.) and baby books, and posters on how to maintain a healthy pregnancy, how to prevent STDs, and tips to check for breast cancer. The doctor’s aid told her the doctor would be with her shortly (which was a lie since the doctor didn’t come until thirty minutes later) and Jade decided to play games on her phone after stripping from her clothes and replacing them with one of those itchy paper gowns she loved to rip apart whenever her mother made her go to the doctor’s. She got questioning texts from Beck, but she ignored them and continued playing Crazy Gophers.

The doctor came in and Jade quickly examined the woman. She looked at least ten years older than Jade and her long red hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail; it looked like a dingy, natural red…the same color the soulless gingers have. The doctor wore minimal makeup, but she didn’t need it. Her body type was similar to Cat’s, but she looked about Jade’s height. And when she smiled warmly at Jade, she noticed the doctor had colorful braces on her top set of teeth.

“Hi,” the doctor greeted, “I’m Dr. Sheila Martin—” As if Jade couldn’t read the bright nametag on her shirt “—but you can call me ‘Sheila.’” Sheila looked down at her laptop that she’d brought in with her; it was one of those fancy ones that you could turn the screen around and write on it like it was paper on a clipboard. “This is your first child, huh?”

“Unfortunately.”

Sheila smiled warmly. “Don’t feel so bad about being a teen mother, dear,” she said. “I was a teen mother, but I didn’t let the fact that I had a child earlier than expected keep me from doing what I wanted. Have you told the father that you’re pregnant? The father of my child wasn’t around, so I had to take all responsibility.”

“No.”

“You don’t think it’s impossible to go to school and take care of a child do you?”

“ _Look_ ,” Jade snapped, “I’m not even sure if I want to keep this stupid thing! Can we please just get this over with? I need to get back to school.”

Sheila’s smile fell and she walked to the desk, placing her computer down after returning to its traditional laptop posture.

“Have you smoked cigarettes, marijuana, crack-cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine during or before your pregnancy?” Sheila’s voice was colder, more detached now.

“No.”

“Have you taken any non-prescribed medicine, injected yourself with—”

“I haven’t done any drugs, nor have I had any kind of alcohol. _You_ may not think it, but I respect my body. I’m perfectly healthy.”

Sheila sighed and typed in the information. “Since you’re so early in your pregnancy,” she began, keeping her eyes on the computer, “We won’t be able to do a standard ultrasound because it won’t show anything. But what we can do is a transvaginal scan.”

Jade crossed her arms. “Will it hurt?”

Sheila sighed again. “If I perform the test the way I’ve been trained,” she began monotonously, “No.”

Jade scowled. “That’s too bad.”

Sheila sneered for a brief moment before grabbing the specially designed probe and preparing it. “In case you haven’t been told,” she started as she readied the ultrasonic wand, “It’s important that you have at least three ultrasounds during your pregnancy; you can have more if you like, but it’s safe to have a minimum of three. Since it’s your first ultrasound of your first trimester, I’m going to confirm your pregnancy and the baby’s heartbeat, as well as measuring the child’s gestational age. I’m also going to be on the lookout for abnormal gestation and if you have an ectopic pregnancy.”

“What the hell is that?”

Sheila turned abruptly and scowled. “Please watch your language.” She put the wand down in a tub full of lubricant and turned to Jade. “Basically,” she continued, “An ectopic pregnancy is where your baby is grows in your Fallopian tubes instead of your uterus. It’s very dangerous and could potentially kill you.”

Jade fought to suppress her smirk. That stupid word—‘ _ectopic_ ’ pregnancy—could solve all her problems. She wouldn’t have to deal with her brother and she wouldn’t have to raise a child she didn’t want.

Sheila’s hands on Jade’s stomach shook Jade from her thoughts. “Why are you touching me?” Jade questioned loudly.

“I told you I was performing a pelvic exam to check for an ectopic pregnancy,” Sheila reminded in annoyance. She pressed her fingers down on both sides of Jade’s pelvis, feeling around slightly. “Have you experienced any sharp, stabbing pain lately?”

Yes. “No,” Jade replied.

“Have you experienced any vaginal bleeding, heavier or lighter than your normal period since you first began to think you were pregnant?”

Yes. “No.”

“Have you experienced any gastrointestinal dysfunction symptoms?”

“Gross.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then. Have you experienced any weakness, dizziness, or fainting?”

“No.”

Sheila removed her hands from Jade’s abdomen and grabbed the ultrasonic wand again. “This will only take a few minutes, no more than ten, and then I’ll ask you to wait here while we process and print out your sonogram.” Sheila then instructed Jade to put her feet in the stirrups and Jade complied. Then she put her head against the rest and let out a loud sigh, resting her hands on her stomach.

Like Sheila said, the process didn’t hurt; Jade felt a little cold inside, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the ultrasonic wand or the uneasy feeling she’d had since her mother died. After Sheila left, Jade curled up on the little bed and clung to her stomach. Part of her really wanted to be pregnant, but she definitely wanted it to be Beck’s. She wanted to have a family with him, to get away from her own, even if it meant having a child at eighteen.

She wondered what she’d have. She’d thought about choosing baby names before, but she kinda wanted to wait for the father (more than likely Beck) to choose with her—even though she’d have the most say in the names. If she had a girl, she might name her Naomi Renee, Darla Raquel, Bristol Caden, or Rebecca Shenae (the last one was the only choice from Beck she agreed with, simply because she could nickname her daughter ‘Beck’); she leaned more toward Naomi. She’d probably let Beck choose the boy names, but she did like the names ‘Axel’ and ‘Jacoby.’ Actually, she liked the name Caden for a boy or a girl.

But no matter what, her child would take Beck’s last name if she had any say in the matter.

“I’m back with good news,” Sheila beamed as she returned to the room with a manila envelope in her hand. Once she looked at Jade her smile faltered slightly. “You could have changed back into your regular clothes after I left,” she announced.

Jade sighed. “I guess I didn’t think about it,” she confessed. She sat up. “You said you had good news?”

Sheila smiled and nodded, pulling the sonogram from the manila envelope. To Jade, it looked like one of those stupid paintings that abstract ‘artists’ made rather than a picture of her baby. The majority of the sonogram was gray, but there were two black circles centered with gray in the middle. Jade pointed to the two black circles. “What are these two black dots here?”

Sheila’s smile grew wider. “Those are your gestational sacs,” she announced. “The white dots in the middle are yolk sacs that will produce nutrients for your babies.”

“B-babies?” Jade stammered out, choking on that _word_.

“You’re having fraternal twins!” Sheila exclaimed with a little pep in her step.

Jade’s face paled as she froze on the bed. The sonogram fell from her hand.

She was having twins…

* * *

  ** _We’re all looking for something to take away the pain._**  


* * *

The next hour went by in a blur. Jade couldn’t focus on anything but her sonogram. God…she was having twins…

She was going to be as big as a house!

God, and she would have to eat enough to feed _three_ people; Liam wouldn’t like that one bit. And she wouldn’t be able to run away; she’d put Cat and Beck’s lives in danger, which she wouldn’t be able to bear. She’d have to stay with Liam and fight to for her children every minute of her life.

“Jade!” Cat shouted, shoving her roughly.

Jade snapped out of her thoughts. “ _What_?” she screeched at the redhead without realizing who she was yelling at.

Cat screamed and hid under the table, scooting between Tori and Andre’s legs.

“See what you did?” Tori griped, narrowing her eyes at Jade and pointing a forkful of salad at her.

Jade sneered at the younger Vega. “Eat me, you ignorant _tramp_.”

Tori gasped and slammed her fork down on the table. “Why do you think you can talk to me like that?” she shouted.

“Because I’ll kill you if you don’t _shut up_!”

Tori squeaked slightly and lowered her eyes to her salad, refusing to speak anymore.

“You seem angrier than usual,” André pointed out.

“She’s just tired,” Cat repeated from beneath the table. “My brother gets mean when he’s tired.”

“Leave me alone,” Jade spat. “Your names aren’t written on these seats; you can all go find somewhere else to sit.”

Beck sighed and put down his utensils. “Jade,” he began, looking down at his tray of pizza and fries. He cleared his throat before looking up at her again. “Can…we talk, please… _alone_?”

Jade kept her narrowed eyes on Beck for a moment and he kept his eyes locked on hers, refusing to back down; he had something he needed to say to her and he intended to say it. After a moment longer, Jade snapped her gaze to André, Robbie, and Tori. Their faces paled within seconds of meeting her gaze and the three of them quickly looked away before scattering from the table. “ _Cat_ ,” Jade hissed once the other three had fled. The little redhead quickly jumped up from the table, leaving the broken couple alone with themselves.

“What?” Jade flared, her voice dripping with impatience.

“Don’t ‘what’ me like that,” Beck ordered calmly.

“Fine,” she breathed, “Tell me what you want to talk about since it’s _so_ important.”

Beck sighed again, holding onto his fork. “What’s upsetting you?” he questioned.

“This week?” Jade remarked sarcastically. “Let’s see, Tori Vega still exists, Sikowitz is still—”

“ _Jade_ ,” Beck cut off sternly. “You know that’s not what I meant. What’s _wrong_? I’m not gonna leave you alone until you tell me.”

Jade lowered her menacing eyes to her plate of French fries and bits of grilled chicken. She didn’t want to eat that crap on her plate, so she might as well use it as a distraction for a talk she didn’t want to have. She sat there for at least five minutes picking at her food before she finally decided to give in and give Beck what he wanted. She took in a deep sigh and clenched her eyes shut.

“I’m having twins…”


	4. But It's Better If You Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the end of the chapters, there will be pregnancy week counters to gauge the time frame better.

* * *

_“And isn't this exactly where you'd like me? I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know: praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety.” – Panic! At the Disco_

* * *

It’s been almost nearly two and a half months since Cat had ‘willingly’ given away her most precious gift—nine weeks to be exact. Cat didn’t tell Jade right away that she wasn’t a virgin anymore, and she was glad she didn’t; the minute Jade found out, she forced Cat to take a morning after pill and it tasted like vomit.

Danny started showing much more affection toward her after their anniversary (like telling her he loved her regularly, massaging her back and shoulders even when she didn’t ask, etc.) and sex became a regular thing. He would come by her house, give her mom some neatly little packaged lie for why they were going out again, and they’d do it. He took up a part-time job and saved his money, allowing him the opportunity to take Cat to cheesy little motels. Of course she didn’t like them, but she dealt with them for Danny’s sake; he didn’t care where they were, as long as he could be with Cat in the most intimate sense of the word.

And now he was kissing her neck, running his hands on her bare thighs. They creeped slowly up past her panties and on top of her exposed stomach (her shorts and shirt had long been thrown to the ground along with his clothes) and he was almost at her chest. When Danny touched the bottom of her bra, Cat’s hands shot to his.

“Stop it, Daniel,” she begged quietly. “I told you two days ago that my chest hurts.”

Danny pulled away from her slightly to get a better look at her face. “Do you have a chest cold or something?” he asked. He slid his hands down to her waist to hold her securely.

“N…no,” Cat answered quietly. She looked away from him. “It just hurts. Can you _please_ just take me home? I’m really sleepy. My brother didn’t get a lot of sleep once and he broke into a barn to steal three cows.”

Danny frowned. “You can’t sleep here?”

“I don’t like it here.”

“But I _paid_ for this room. It’s the nicest one here and you have me.”

“I just want to go to my bed…”

“Cat, I told you I’m gonna protect you and keep you safe.” He kissed her cheek. “I love you. You’ll be fine here with me.”

Cat sighed loudly and scooted from beneath Danny so she could turn on her side. She knew she wouldn’t win this; Danny could be very stubborn and wouldn’t rest until he got what he wanted. Although he really wanted sex, he was content with just being in the same room with Cat and getting to hold her as much as possible. Sleeping in the same bed as her without ‘sleeping’ with her would be just as good as sex for the time being.

When she rolled onto her side, Danny cuddled up beside her and wrapped his arm around her stomach. She wanted to throw it off because the thought of him touching her made her a little mad, but then she felt bad inside because her mommy taught her not to get mad at people over small things.

She still didn’t want his hand on her stomach.

“I love you, Cat,” Danny breathed before kissing the back of her head. Cat sighed again and muttered out an ‘I love you’ back to him. He was starting to annoy her with how much he said it. He started to notice it, too. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she lied. “I’m just really sleepy. My brother is keeping me up at night with his yodeling competitions.” With that, she yawned and closed her eyes, hoping Danny would leave her alone. Cat normally hated lying, but she just couldn’t help it now; she wanted to be left alone and he wasn’t going to let her.

Both of them lay on the bed for at least five minutes before Danny got up and went to the little, crappy in-room bathroom, leaving Cat by herself. He left a cold spot in his place that left Cat feeling a little empty, but she wasn’t sure she wanted him back. Moments later, she heard soft groans coming from the bathroom. She didn’t know what they were, but she didn’t like the sound of them. She quickly covered her head with her pillow and tried to drown the noise out.

Five minutes later, she heard the bathroom door open and heard the light switch off. She clenched her eyes shut as Danny removed her pillow and carefully lifted her head to place it under her. When he replaced his hand around her stomach, it was cold and damp like he’d just washed them. She felt disgusted thinking about what he could have been doing in there, but didn’t say anything. She caught her brother doing ‘bad’ things before, so she had an idea of what happened in that bathroom.

And all of two seconds later, he was snoring up a soft storm behind her head.

* * *

**_Well I’m afraid that I…well, I may have faked it._ **

* * *

“Cat,” Robbie called as he sat beside her at lunch. She was trying to busy herself by playing around with the little salad on her plate. She wasn’t really hungry and the smell of food made her stomach turn a little bit, but she found that she could hold down a little salad if she needed to. She wasn’t looking as perky as she normally did, but she was happy that she wouldn’t have to worry with Danny today; he had to go to work and wouldn’t get off until midnight tonight.

“What’s wrong?”

Cat put her fork down and looked up at Robbie. “What do you mean?” she asked with a small smile. “I’m fine.”

“You look like chiz,” Rex announced from his perch on Robbie’s lap. Robbie shouted his name in disapproval and covered the puppet’s mouth, much to its mumbling dismay.

Cat lowered her head and continued messing with her salad. She didn’t want to cry but she felt like she was going to…

“He didn’t mean it Cat,” Robbie assured her desperately.

“Yes I did,” Rex garbled behind Robbie’s hand. Robbie bounced him once and shook the puppet.

“Just go away, Robbie,” she muttered. She picked apart a piece of lettuce and popped in her mouth, slowly chewing it and regretting the taste.

“But Cat, I—”

“ _Please go away_!” she shouted as her red hair snapped around. Robbie jumped in his seat and shot to his feet. He muttered an apology and hurriedly left as Beck, Tori, and André were walking over with plates of pizza, salad, and artery-clogging love. Cat kept her head down, trying not to cry as she felt horrible for yelling at Robbie.

“What’s wrong with Robbie?” Tori asked as she sat beside the redhead.

Cat took a long pause to pick at more lettuce before she answered. “I…yelled at him,” she confessed sheepishly.

“What?” Tori laughed with a disbelieving smile. “Did you just say you _yelled_ at him?”

Cat dropped her fork and her body shook with her sadness and guilt. Her hair twitched slightly around her head as her sobs took over her. Tori stared on in awe, afraid to say anything else. Beck, however, scooted around to her and wrapped his arms around her. She quickly put her head on his shoulder and sobbed even louder, drawing attention from the nearby tables.

“What did you do to her, Vega?” Jade snarled as she speed-walked up to the table of four. She wore black skinny jeans with holes in the knees as well as a large sweatshirt that the slightly cool weather didn’t call for. She had a brown paper bag in one hand and her other hand balled into a fist. Her knuckles would have collided with Tori’s nose had André not shot up and grabbed her by the wrist. Tori screamed slightly and moved to the other side of the table to get away.

“Why do you assume _I_ did something?” Tori questioned loudly in defense.

“Because you have a habit of hurting her!” Jade screamed. “You’re a vindictive little—”

“ _Jade_!” Cat shrieked, cutting off her friend. “It wasn’t Tori’s fault…”

“Then why are you crying?” Jade asked loudly, her mouth still twisted into a scowl.

Cat pulled away from Beck and sighed, wiping her puffy eyes. “I…yelled at Robbie…”

Jade scoffed and rolled her eyes. “So _what_?” she spat. “He probably deserved it anyway. You should have punched him in his stupid little face.”

“But that’s mean!” Cat cried out. Then she turned back to her salad and ate a ripped up cucumber. It slid down her throat, but she forced it to stay there. She forced herself to swallow it and hold it down. Maybe she would.

Jade snatched free from André and took his vacant spot beside Cat. “You’re a little moodier than usual,” she announced in a calm voice, “What’s wrong?”

Cat shook her head at first, and then she shrugged. “I don’t know,” she muttered like a child. “I don’t feel good…”

Jade pried Beck’s fingers off Cat and wrapped her arm around her. “Why don’t you feel good?” she asked in a strained voice. She had a feeling of what Cat was going to say, but she was hoping that the little girl would say something else. Cat told her two months ago that she and Danny had stepped up their relationship and Jade supplied her with some morning after pills that she could take, as well as other necessary precautions, but the thought still lingered in her mind that Cat would end up like her.

“My tummy feels tumbly,” Cat answered. “I feel like I’m gonna be sick all the time…”

“Maybe you should go to a doctor,” Tori suggested from as far away from Cat as she could get while still sitting at the table. Jade shot her daggers and Tori squealed before shooting up from the table and running back inside the school.

“I’ll get her,” André offered after a long, drawn out sigh. He slowly rose from the table and collected his lunch before going after Tori. If he didn’t go after her, no one would.

Once he was gone, Jade took in a deep breath. “Cat,” she breathed out, “Are you…pregnant?”

Cat gasped and scooted away from Jade, pushing herself closer into Beck. “No!” she exclaimed. “I can’t be!”

“But you’ve been _having sex_ ,” Jade reminded quietly.

Beck cleared his throat slightly. “Maybe I should leave for this conversation,” he suggested as he began to rise. Jade’s head snapped to him and she glared at him. He stared at her for a moment and descended back into his seat. “I don’t know if I should hear this…”

“Too bad,” Jade snarled. “If she’s pregnant, you’re _going_ to help her.”

“But I’m not pregnant,” Cat denied.

“You don’t know that!” Jade persisted. “Tell me everything that’s wrong with you. Is your chest tender? Are you throwing up? Have you been able to keep down your food? Are you going to the bathroom more than usual?”

Cat lowered her eyes and nodded. “But I’m probably just sick…”

“Cat,” Beck began, “If you’ve been experiencing all these things, then you should really go see a doctor. If you really are pregnant, you need to go ahead and find out so you don’t harm yourself or the baby.”

Cat huffed slightly. “I can’t ask my brother to take me any time soon,” she announced.

“I’ll take you,” Beck told her. “We can go right now and I’ll get you back here before school’s over.”

Cat started to smile, but then turned to Jade. “Will you come with me?” she pleaded. “I don’t think they’d let Beck come in with me and I want someone to hold my hand…”

Jade’s breath hitched and she moved away from the redhead slightly. “I can’t,” she answered hastily. She wanted to be there for Cat, but she really couldn’t risk Liam finding out she was skipping out on school.

“But you _have_ to!” Cat begged. “I can’t go by myself; I can’t get my mommy to come with me. What if I _am_ pregnant? She’s not gonna like it! I can’t go alone!” Her eyes were filling with tears and she was on the verge of crying once more.

Jade looked away, clenching her eyes shut. If she looked at Cat, she’d give in. She had three people to look after and she couldn’t risk Liam getting upset. She still hadn’t told him what happened.

When Cat let out a small squeak and Jade heard Beck’s clothes move so he could hold Cat and possibly keep her from crying, that’s when Jade couldn’t take it anymore. She snapped back to Cat and groaned loudly. “Fine!” she shouted. She cleared her throat and lowered her voice when the petite girl flinched. “Fine,” she breathed. “I’ll go with you. Let’s just make this quick.”

Cat’s face brightened and she laughed softly. “Yay!”

* * *

**_Well I’m afraid that I…well, I may have faked it._ **

* * *

A trip to the women’s clinic is always fun.

Jade sat in the back of Beck’s truck with her arms and legs crossed the entire time. Each mile she got away from the school pissed her off even more. If someone called her house telling Liam she’d left, he’d raise hell and she’d raise hell to whoever said anything. Worst case scenario, the truth would come out to Liam and God knows what he’d do. But until then, she was going to join Cat at her appointment and try to talk Cat out of bringing the baby to term if she was actually pregnant.

“Wait in the car, Beck,” Jade ordered as he pulled up to the clinic. “Cat doesn’t want you in there with her.”

“I don’t?” Cat answered sheepishly.

“You _don’t_ ,” Jade confirmed sternly.

“Then why am I here?” Beck questioned slightly impatiently.

“To offer moral support for Cat,” Jade elucidated. “You don’t have to go _inside_ to do that; you only have to drive her to and from the clinic.”

Beck sighed and looked out the window. When he didn’t say anything else, Jade opened the door and pushed Cat out of the truck. She climbed out and slammed the door. “When we get inside,” she began as she walked side by side with Cat, “Let me do all the talking. I’ll fill out your paperwork, got it?”

Cat nodded and the two walked inside. The receptionist greeted them both but Jade spoke to her. She took a clipboard from the desk and led Cat back to the waiting area chairs. Cat tried to intervene when Jade started filling in the lines (especially when she put Cat’s name as Harmony Dekker) but Jade continuously silenced her. After returning the clipboard to the receptionist’s desk, Jade and Cat waited (somewhat) patiently for Cat’s fake name to be called. Then, both girls walked to the back room where a nurse’s aide lied about the time it would take for the doctor to get there.

“I’m nervous,” Cat admitted as she swung her legs back and forth on the table. She was also playing with her hair as she observed the room.

“Don’t be,” Jade instructed. “Just put on the stupid gown so we can hurry this up.”

“Kay, kay,” Cat breathed as she climbed down from the bed/table. She quickly changed clothes and returned to the table, swinging her legs again while she waited. With a scowl, Jade took one of the plastic blue seats beside her friend and snatched a pregnancy book from counter with the sterilization wipes and sink.

Fifteen minutes later, the naturally redheaded doctor entered the room with a smile that fell as soon as she saw Jade. “You’re back,” Sheila announced with a less than friendly demeanor.

“Cut the small talk and examine my sister,” Jade insisted, not looking up from her book. “She thinks she might be pregnant.”

With a discreet roll of the eyes, Sheila turned from Jade to Cat. “Hi, Harmony,” she greeted warmly, her large smile returning. Cat looked confused for a moment but shook it away, remembering that was supposed to be her name for right now, and greeted the doctor back.

“I’m Dr. Sheila Martin,” the doctor continued, “But you can call me ‘Sheila.’ So you’re not sure if you’re pregnant?”

Cat nodded, shook her head, nodded again, and then lowered her head. She didn’t know which answer was right.

“Well I have a few questions that can help me figure out if you’re pregnant, alright?”

Cat nodded. “Kay, kay!”

“Now,” Sheila began, setting up her computer, “Are your breasts tender or swollen, dear?”

Cat giggled slightly at the word ‘breasts.’ “My mommy tells me not to use that word,” she announced.

Sheila smiled. “Okay,” she chuckled lightly. “Has your chest started hurting lately or gotten bigger?”

Cat nodded.

“Have you been really tired lately?”

Cat shook her head. “I get lots of sleep!” she announced happily.

“Do you have to go to the bathroom a lot?”

“Yup…”

“Do you smell things more than you used to? And does it make you sick?”

“Sometimes…and…sometimes!”

“Have you been bleeding or spotting since your last period?”

Cat shrugged. She never really took note of that even before she thought she was pregnant.

“Have you been feeling moody lately?”

Cat opened her mouth to answer when her head snapped to Jade, who was noisily drumming her fingertips against the counter while she read her pregnancy book. “Can you stop?” she shouted. “You’re being annoying!”

“Leave me alone,” Jade snarled. Cat squealed in fear and turned from both Jade and the doctor. Sheila sighed and recorded Cat’s mood swings into the computer.

Sheila smiled a small smile. “I’m pretty sure you’re pregnant, darling,” she announced.

Cat gasped in fear again, clinging to herself. “But that’s bad!” she exclaimed.

Sheila frowned. “No it’s not, sweetheart,” she assured Cat. “If you don’t want to keep the child, I could set up an appointment for you to…take care of things, if you like.”

“She’ll do that,” Jade stated as she closed her book. “Is there any way she could do it today?”

“No!” Cat begged, looking between Jade and Sheila. “I don’t want to get rid of the baby; it’s my little kitten!”

“You can’t keep it!” Jade denied.

“I think you should let Harmony make her own decisions,” Sheila defended.

“No one asked you!” Jade seethed.

“Stop yelling at the nice doctor!” Cat shouted. “You’re making me feel bad!”

“Shut up and let her schedule the stupid _abortion_!” Jade commanded.

“That’s _it_!” Dr. Martin exclaimed. “I can’t take it anymore! From the moment you stepped in, you’ve been nothing but trouble. Please go back to the waiting room or I’ll have to force you out!”

Jade sneered at the doctor and stormed out of the room with her book in hand. She slammed the door and a few pictures fell to the ground. She didn’t care though; as long as she got away from that annoying, perky doctor.

After Jade left and Dr. Martin calmed down, she proceeded to ask Cat questions about drug use, all of which Cat responded with ‘no.’ Afterward, Sheila questioned Cat on if she really didn’t want the abortion or not and Cat assured the older woman that she wanted to keep her baby no matter what. She wouldn’t go through abortions, adoptions, or any other ‘a’ words. The news pleased Sheila greatly and she proceeded to explain the concept of an ectopic pregnancy as she did with Jade, which frightened Cat slightly. Then Sheila proceeded to perform a pelvic and transvaginal scan on the petite kitten.

Much to Cat’s dismay, Sheila left her alone in the room so she could print out the sonogram. Cat was sad for a moment but went to the counter where Jade found a pregnancy book and picked out a baby name book. She figured she could surprise Danny with an Irish name for her baby since it had an “Origin of Names” section. Oh, maybe if she told Danny she was pregnant then he would stop trying to have sex with her since she didn’t like it all that much! It seemed like a win-win situation.

While she waited for Sheila to bring back the sonogram, Cat found a bunch of Irish baby names as well as regular names and even some names that Jade would like for one of her babies!

“Knock, knock,” Sheila announced joyously as she entered the room with a manila folder. Cat laughed happily because Sheila said the word instead of doing it! “It looks like you’re pregnant, girlie!”

Cat squealed in happiness and jumped up and down. She stopped when she realized her gown was flying around her and creating a breeze around her backside. She quickly reached for her pretty blue dress and held against her body over the gown.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” she asked with wide, excited eyes.

Sheila shook her head. “I’m afraid it’s too early to tell,” she announced, “But you’re pretty far along. Harmony, you’re _seven weeks_ pregnant.” She frowned. “If you suspect you’re pregnant for even a moment, you should take some kind of action like an early home pregnancy test. It’s very dangerous to be pregnant when you don’t know it; you could put both yourself and your child in danger.”

Cat gasped in shock. “No!” she cried out, clinging to her dress even tighter. “I don’t wanna hurt my baby!”

Sheila began scribbling down on a piece of paper. “If you follow everything I’ve written down and take your prenatal vitamins,” she began, “You’ll both be fine. There’s nothing wrong with your pregnancy and I’m here to help you make sure it stays that way.”

Cat bounced slightly and ran to Sheila to hug her. Laughing slightly, Sheila hugged the erratic little girl back. Then she handed Cat the paper, directed her to the restroom so she could change, and sent the little redhead on her way.

Once Cat emerged from the restroom, she went back to the waiting room to look for Jade. Her face fell when she couldn’t find her gloomy friend. She quickly ran out front to find Beck’s truck still parked there. When she opened the door to the truck, only Beck was inside.

“Where’s Jade?” she questioned worriedly. “She wasn’t in the waiting room and she wasn’t in the restroom because I was just in there!”

“She made me take her back to school,” Beck announced quietly. “I told her we should wait for you but she was really mad.”

Cat let out a sad noise and plopped down into the passenger’s seat. Beck didn’t question here about the manila folder in her hand, but he assumed she was positively pregnant.

“I’m here for you, Cat,” Beck offered, nudging her shoulder gently with his knuckle. She just nodded to him and muttered thanks.

* * *

**_Well I’m afraid that I…well, I may have faked it._ **

* * *

Once Cat and Beck were pulling into the school parking lot, they found Jade being led away with a tall man they’d never seen before. He looked too young to be her father, but neither of them thought she had any siblings. Neither of them could get a good look at his face—just the back of his shaggy head—so they couldn’t possibly know he and Jade looked too alike for comfort.

“Jade!” Cat called as she climbed out of the truck. The Goth looked to Cat and her eyes grew wide before she quickly turned back to the mystery man. She muttered something incoherent to the man and they picked up the pace to his faded blue 1971 Chevy Newport. “Jade!” Cat called out again. “Where are you going? School’s still going on!”

Jade refused to acknowledge Cat and Beck stepped up to her.

“Let’s just go inside,” he suggested, keeping an eye on Jade and the man. Beck could sense something was wrong by how deathly pale Jade grew when she saw the two. The way the man held Jade’s arm and the way he forced her into the car (no one would notice the subtle dominance presented by the man unless they stared as hard as Beck did) seemed…off… There was fear in Jade’s eyes, fear that no one had ever seen before. He would investigate the situation later, but he wanted to keep Cat away; he didn’t want both of them to get hurt if this man was (as he seemed) dangerous.

Cat’s eyes narrowed in confusion as Jade rode off with the strange man. “Why is she riding with him?” she wondered. “She has her own car!”

The realization startled Beck and he turned around to face the entire length of the parking lot, looking for Jade’s silver glory. He spotted it at the far end of the lot near the shade of the trees that had been Common Law reserved for Jade. It naturally sat lower than the cars surrounding it, but it sat lower than usual. There were pieces of rubber that sat in front of the car and trailed back to the wheels.

Her tires had been slashed…

 

**Cat: 7 weeks**

**Jade: 13 weeks**


	5. Boy Division

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The week counter isn't at the bottom of this chapter because the events of this chapter take place at the same time as the events of the previous chapter, just from a different point of view.

* * *

_“If all my enemies threw a party, would you light the candles? Would you drink the wine? While watching television? Watch the animals, and all the tragedies, and sell your arteries, and buy my casket gown. It better be black and it better be tight and it better be just my size.” – My Chemical Romance_

* * *

“That’s _it_!” Dr. Martin exclaimed. “I can’t take it anymore! From the moment you stepped in, you’ve been nothing but trouble. Please go back to the waiting room or I’ll have to force you out!”

Jade sneered at the doctor and stormed out of the room with her book in hand; now she didn’t need to spend Liam’s money to get one. She slammed the door and a few pictures fell to the ground. “Eat me, you twat!” she shouted through the wood.

As she stormed through the waiting area, the little children screamed and cried while the receptionist called out to her. Jade flipped the receptionist off and stomped through the door, cracking the glass as she roughly pulled the door to a close.

Beck watched her clomp down from the clinic and climbed out of his truck to meet her halfway. “What’s wrong?” he questioned. He looked past her to the door. “Where’s Cat?”

“She’s _fine_ ,” Jade growled as she continued walking. “Take me back to the stupid school.”

“We should really wait for Cat, though,” Beck pleaded. “What if she gets done before we get back?”

“I don’t care!” Jade screamed. “Get in the damn truck and take me back to school!”

Beck looked after her in confusion and sighed before moving back to the driver’s seat. “Fine…”

After she climbed into the truck, she slammed the door loudly and crossed her arms, refusing to buckle her seatbelt. She mumbled a few swear words under her breath as Beck wordlessly started his truck back up.

* * *

**_I’m not dead; I only dress that way._ **

* * *

Beck tried getting Jade to talk along the way back to school, but she refused to speak to him. Normally she wouldn’t let some preppy narc like Sheila upset her so badly, but the pregnancy hormones were getting to her. Jade never wanted to kill anyone more than she wanted kill Sheila.

Once at school, she stormed off to her Chemistry class before Beck could try and pester her with anything else about Cat. Lucky for her, fourth period had just let out and everyone was in the hallway as they scurried (or walked excruciatingly slowly) to their last class of the day. It was easy for her to blend in with the other students and lose Beck.

When Beck finally caught up to her, she was already seated and the teacher had just closed the door. Beck tapped on the glass lightly and the teacher shook her head. “You’re not in this class, Mr. Oliver,” she reminded him. “Go to _your_ class.”

Beck sighed and headed back outside to his truck.. There was no sense in him sticking around if Jade didn’t want to talk to him. Besides, he needed to get back to the clinic to pick Cat up. Hopefully she wouldn’t be done before he got there; he didn’t want her to have to wait or be alone.

Jade breathed softly once she saw Beck’s head disappear; she wouldn’t have to be pestered with him until _after_ fifth period. She pulled her Chem book from her bag and was about to open it when Principal Dubois’ voice appeared over the intercom.

“Will Jade West report to my office, please?” she asked sweetly. “I don’t want to have to ask again.” That time, her voice was more stern and impatient.

 _Great_ , Jade thought sarcastically to herself as she rolled her eyes. She assumed that the jig was up; she’d been caught skipping school.

“Well, Jade?” the teacher urged when she saw that her pupil wasn’t moving, “You heard the principal; get going.”

“Shove it,” Jade sneered as she put her Chem book away and stood up. “I’m going.”

The teacher gasped. “Apologize to me right now, Jade West, or I’ll—”

“You’ll _wha_ t?” Jade cut her off with an annoyed glare. “Tell the principal on me? I’m _already_ in trouble.” Before her teacher could say anything else, slammed the door and made her way to Helen’s office.

The door was slightly ajar, so Jade could hear what was being said as she neared the principal’s office. Well, she couldn’t make out exact words, but she could tell the difference between voices. She could also familiarize a masculine voice conversing with her principal. Jade stiffened and stopped.

Without thinking, she slapped herself. Jade West was _not_ afraid of _anything_.

She took in a deep breath, wiped away her shocked expression, replaced it with an unreadable stature, and gently pushed the door open. She kept her eyes locked on Principal Dubois, refusing to look at the man that accompanied her principal.

“You wanted to see me?”

“I wasn’t sure I’d see you at all,” Helen began snippily, “Seeing as how you skipped school and all.”

“I didn’t skip school,” Jade lied flatly. “I’m _here_ , aren’t I?”

“Show some manners,” the man demanded from beside Jade.

She ignored him.

Principal Dubois cleared her throat. “Now Jade,” she started, “Do you know _why_ it is California state law for children under the age of 18 to go to school?” She doesn’t allow Jade the time to give an answer. “It’s so they get a quality education and, under supervision of teachers, do _not_ get into trouble. Not only are you breaking the law by skipping school, you are also making it impossible for people to make sure you’re keeping out of trouble. I don’t take truancy lightly, Miss West. You’re lucky your brother has convinced me _not_ to call the police.”

Jade grit her teeth and crossed her arms. “Thank you _so_ much for saving me from jail,” she forced out.

“Jade,” Liam barked, rising to his feet. “I asked you to show your principal some manners.” He turned to Helen. “I’m sorry about my little sister,” he said with a lighter tone and a fake smile. “You’ve dealt with her; you know she’s not the best apple on the tree.” Helen laughed and Jade scowled. “If it’s alright with you,” he continued after he chuckled at his own little ‘joke,’ “I’d like to take her home since the school day is practically over.”

Helen visibly contemplated it for a moment and nodded with a smile. “I don’t see why that would be a problem,” she mulled over. “After all, you _are_ her brother. And an ex-marine to boot! I’m sure she’ll stay out of trouble if she’s with you.”

Liam tipped his imaginary hat, fixing his shaggy hair after it fell onto his face. “Have a nice day, ma’am.” Helen laughed and bid him the same. Then he turned to Jade. “Come on, Jade,” he demanded in a soft, for-show voice, “Let’s go home.”

Jade stared at the floor for only a moment, and then turned to face her brother. He had changed out of his sweatpants and oversized button up that he never buttoned into a green undershirt, camouflage pants, and thick Timberlands. His flat-top hat was in both hands, but was being switched to his left hand so he could pretend to grab Jade’s arm gently. Liam rarely went out, but he always wore his uniform when he did; anything else was shoddy and disrespectful to his country.

He took her arm in what seemed like a gentle manner, but he dug his thumb into the back of her arm. His rage was seething, but he was in public and he had to keep up appearances. As calmly as he could, he led Jade out Principal Helen’s office and down the school’s hallways. Once free of the school doors, Jade snatched her arm from him.

“They’re _lying_ ,” she rebuked, trying to look convincing.

Liam turned to her with a scowl. “ _You’re_ lying,” he counted. “You know I don’t like it when you lie to me.”

“I left for a good reason.”

He slapped her across the face. “I don’t _care_ why you left!” he shouted. “Do you think I _like_ getting calls from your stupid little artsy-fartsy school about how you’re being a little trouble making bitch?”

“So why did you bother coming?” Jade asked loudly, holding her face.

Liam slapped her again. “Don’t raise your voice at me,” he hissed. “I came to teach you yet another lesson since you obviously don’t have enough sense to act like a respectable member of society.”

Jade scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I really don’t have time for this, Liam,” she told him. “I have other things I need to do.” A lie, but maybe he’d believe it. She turned on her heels and began walking in the direction of the parking lot to get to her car. Her keys were burning a hole in her back pocket and she was just itching to get away from the world for a little while.

“Did you really think I’d let you just walk away from me?” Liam called after her as he crossed his arms. “You could try and get away in your car…but I slashed your tires.” Jade snapped around in annoyed disbelief to find him smirking mockingly. “I had to take out my anger on something before I went to see your principal and I guess your _baby_ paid the price.”

Jade’s back stiffened and every tiny hair on her body stood on end. He said the “b” word. She knew he was talking about her car, but who’s to say he wouldn’t mean her children the next time he said _that word_? He wouldn’t give a damn about those children, even if they were partly his; they would be something dear to little sister that he could use against her and hurt her with.

Nothing was safe.

“You might as well bring your ass back over here,” he suggested darkly, “Otherwise, I’ll force you. I can outrun you and _I’ve_ still got my car to catch you. The choice is yours though, Jade.”

Jade lowered her eyes and crossed her arms. She didn’t want to give into him, she didn’t want another beating, but she was gonna get it. Things had settled down with her brother, but now she’d actually done something that legitimately called for him to get pissed off. There was nothing wrong with a few slaps to the face or welts on her arms and back, but she knew something worse was in store.

She was gonna have to tell him about the twins.

Slowly, she walked toward him. Once near enough, he yanked her over by her arm and continued to lead her to his faded blue 1971 Chevy Newport. She faintly heard tires cross the loose gravel on the parking lot, but she tried to ignore it and pretend it wasn’t her ex harboring her best friend.

And then:

“Jade!”

With wide eyes, she turned to see Cat and Beck standing at the other side of the parking lot in front of his truck.

“Who is that?” Liam questioned with a scowl.

Jade’s head snapped back to him and she pretended to be angry. “She’s that cunt who stole my ex-boyfriend,” she lied.

Liam chuckled slightly and looked to Beck and Cat. Jade had never let Liam see pictures of Cat, but she still kept pictures of Beck in her room that she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of. While Beck was greatly important to Jade, keeping Cat safe was one of her main priorities; if Liam believed Cat was Tori (whom Jade regularly bitched about to Cat on the phone) then Cat would be safe.

“Jade!” Cat called out again. “Where are you going? School’s still going on!”

“She keeps trying to be nice to me even though she knows I hate her,” Jade explained as she kept her eyes forward on her brother’s car.

“She probably deserves him,” Liam spat coldly. “God knows you didn’t.”

Jade scowled but kept her mouth shut and climbed into the faded blue 1971 Chevy Newport.

* * *

**_I’m not dead; I only dress that way._ **

* * *

As soon as Jade opened the car door, Liam roughly took her arm and yanked her out of the car, not even allowing her to get her bag out of the car. “Get your ass up,” he commanded. He pulled her up the remainder of the driveway to the front door, opened the door, and threw her inside. She kept herself from falling, but she stumbled into the middle of the room and hit her thigh against the couch. She ignored the pain and turned around with crossed arms and a plastered scowl to face her brother.

“What the _hell_ is wrong with you?” Liam screamed as he slammed the door shut. “I give and give and give for this family since Dad is hardly _ever_ here. I cook for you, I make sure your car works so you can get your dumb ass to school, and I help pay for this damn house. But _no_ , that’s not good enough for _Jade_ , is it?” He crossed the room and grabbed her by her shoulders before slapping her across the face. Her hair whipped around her and she refused to look at him. “You’re a good-for-nothing, worthless little shit that doesn’t appreciate anything!”

He shoved her so that she stumbled roughly against the wall, popping bones in her body that didn’t need popping. “I woulda thought that you’d learned not to skip school after the last time,” Liam raged on, “But I guess _I_ was wrong! Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put you out of my misery.”

Jade looked at the carpet and refused to say anything to him. She thought it’d be corny if she went out and said she was pregnant; he probably wouldn’t believe her if she said it right now.

“That’s what I thought,” Liam snarled. He sauntered over to Jade and pulled her to him by her sweatshirt. He quickly turned her and threw her face first into the wall, hitting her head brutally against it. He grabbed one of her arms and twisted it behind her back. She cried out softly in pain, but otherwise put up no resistance. With his free hand, Liam grabbed his sister by her chin and pulled her face close to his until their lips were inches apart.

“It’s only fair that I give you a kiss before I fuck you up,” he whispered before crashing his lips down on hers. She let out muffled protests and struggled in his grasp. After a few seconds of his hot, cracked lips smothering Jade’s, Liam released her enough to get a better grip on her so he could throw her onto the couch. As he began undoing his belt, Jade scurried to her feet.

“Wait, wait,” she pleaded. “I can’t.”

“And why the hell not?”

“Because I…I’m…” She couldn’t tell him yet. She had a feeling he’d get angry with her, angrier than he already was. She didn’t want to risk it. “I’m on my period!” she quickly lied.

Liam laughed darkly. “That’s why you got more than one hole,” he spat.

Jade’s breath hitched. He’d only ever done…that…once before and saying she _really_ didn’t like it would be an understatement; it was far too painful, even for her standards.

As Liam advanced toward her, Jade jumped back slightly. “Fine!” she shouted. “I’m not on my period.” She clenched her eyes shut and took in a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”

And like that, her fear consumed her. She couldn’t move, and she couldn’t breathe. Her hands were clenched tightly beside her and she was beginning to lose feeling in her hands as her nails dug into her palms. She couldn’t feel anything around her, couldn’t hear anything, so maybe she was already dead.

Slowly, she opened one eye and risked a glance at her brother. She found that she could still see. That, and Liam stood deathly still, his eyes on the carpet and a mixed expression between confusion and shock. His hands were also at his side, but they were shaking slightly.

Jade felt the need to call out to him, like it was common courtesy or something. But then again, when was Jade ever courteous? If he wanted to say something, then he would. She didn’t have to force it out of him.

Liam’s eyes rose to meet her now open ones. “Is it mine?” he asked quietly.

“Twins,” Jade corrected as she looked to the floor, “And…yeah. I stopped seeing Beck when you told me to.”

Liam shook himself back into his normal anger. “You’re lying!” he shouted, pointing at her. “You’re a fucking whore and you know it!” He laughed in spite of himself and dropped his hands to his side, slapping the sides of his thighs softly. “You almost had me for a minute there, lying to me about a goddamn baby. But _twins_?” He laughed again. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“I’m not lying!” Jade shouted back, looking to him with determined and angered eyes. “I have the sonogram in my bag if you don’t believe me!”

Liam scoffed. “How do I know you didn’t steal some other girl’s sonogram?” he accused. “After all, you’re a little thief, too!”

Jade groaned loudly and lifted her sweatshirt and black undershirt just enough to expose her baby bump that was already protruding past her chest. She looked down at it, really looking at it, and hardly believed it was real.

“You’re just fat…”

Jade scoffed and rolled her eyes, pulling her shirt and sweatshirt down. “Do you want me to pee on a stick for you?”

Realizing she was serious, Liam’s hands shot to his head. He staggered backward slightly before looking to his sister, fingers locked in his hair.

“Just…” His eyes roamed around the room for a moment before returning to Jade. “Just go to your room.”

Jade didn’t say a word and slowly began to go to her room. She didn’t feel the need to question him and she was still slightly worried. She could see on his face that he believed her now, but she wasn’t sure what he would do about it.

“I said go!” he shouted as she passed him. Jade quickly picked up her pace and darted up the stairs. Liam, as soon as he heard the first stair creek, snapped back to his sister and watched her carefully, making sure she didn’t fall. When Jade made upstairs, to her room, and slammed her door, Liam sighed and fell onto the couch.

“ _Fuck_ …”

* * *

**_I’m not dead; I only dress that way._ **

* * *

Jade avoided Beck and Cat all morning.

There would be questions that she didn’t want to answer.

During first and second period, Robbie and Tori tried to get her to talk which was virtually pointless. In first period, Jade would sneer and cross her arms—her eyes locked on the teacher—whenever Robbie tried to talk to her. At one point, Rex said something to her (some silly, snide remark) and she snatched him from Robbie before ripping the puppet’s head off and throwing it across the room while the teacher wrote something on the whiteboard.

And in second period, Jade would scowl darkly whenever Tori spoke to her. When Jade almost stabbed Tori with a pen after Tori tried to touch Jade’s arm, that’s when Tori gave up.

She made sure she got to Sikowitz’s class _exactly_ one minute before class started and made some blonde girl that sat in the back take her seat near the middle. Periodically, Cat and Beck would turn around to try and get Jade’s attention, but Cat called Jade’s name a little too loudly and Sikowitz called Cat out on it; from that point on, he kept a close eye on her as he taught since she wanted to be a ‘Chatty Catty.’

Even André tried to get her attention, but Jade kept her walls up and ignored him as well.

Liam did his research and had forced her to take a healthy lunch consisting of a fresh salad (made with lettuce, cucumbers, spinach, carrots, grilled chicken rich in iron, sunflower seeds, and tomatoes)—no dressing, since it could give her indigestion and hurt the babies—a water bottle full of purified water that he filled himself, and strawberry yogurt with real strawberry chunks in it. While she didn’t want to eat the health-nut garbage he gave her, she was thankful that it gave her an excuse to not have to go to the Asphalt Café.

She decided to hide out in the library.

Her ‘friends’ would come looking for her and the first places they’d look would be the janitor’s closet and the Black Box Theatre. No one ever came to the library during lunch anyway. The librarians knew that, so they went on their own lunch break—even the nerds sat in classrooms while they ate their lunch, did homework, or read. For now, the library would be a safe haven for Jade since she knew how to pick a lock, so she would have _some_ sort of peace in the library.

She was almost finished with her horrible salad when she heard sneakers squeaking up the hall. They stopped and Jade heard a high pitched laugh.

“There you are!” Cat exclaimed as she pushed through the library doors that Jade thought she locked. “We were looking _every_ where for you, Jade!”

Jade rolled her eyes. “You all should have taken the hint that I didn’t want to be found,” she retorted curtly as she took the last bite of salad. She sat Indian Style on a table in the middle of the room, but it would be hard to see her face if you just looked through the window in the door. She had practically been out of sight.

Maybe Cat saw the black leggings and assumed they were Jade’s.

Cat jumped on the free space of the table and sat like Jade did, facing her scowling friend with a worried look. “What’s wrong Jade?” she asked. “Why won’t you talk to me? Did I do something wrong? Why was your phone turned off yesterday?”

“Shut up with all the questions!” Jade shouted, snapping her head to Cat. “Mind your own business! Maybe I’m just in a bad mood because I have to feed three damn people and all my br—” She stopped herself; she had almost said the ‘b’ word…

“…A-all my _brutish_ father packed me for lunch was this healthy crap.”

She hoped Cat would fall for it like she usually did. Anyone else would catch her on the lie.

Cat lowered her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to make you mad…”

When she began to sniffle, Jade groaned and rolled her eyes. “Quit it,” she ordered. “Don’t you _dare_ cry right now.”

“Jade?” Beck called from the doorway.

Unbelievable.

Jade groaned louder and threw her empty salad bowl to the ground. It bounced and landed with a soft thud as she climbed off the table.

“What?” she shouted, throwing her hands up into the air. “Did you come to look for me too?” She stormed up to him and pushed him. “ _Stop_ looking for me,” she spat. “I told you before: don’t worry about me unless I _tell_ you to.”

Beck scowled. “It doesn’t work like that,” he told her. His voice was calm, but if she kept pushing it, he might get louder.  “I can’t flip a switch and just _not_ worry about you, Jade.”

“Then learn!”

“Jade, stop,” he pleaded, struggling to keep his voice calm. She tried to push him again, but his hands caught her wrists. “ _Stop_ pushing me away!”

The intensity of his voice shocked her, but she ignored it. For a moment longer, Jade continued to struggle in his grasp. She balled her fists and tried to smash them against his chest, but he wouldn’t let her. He wasn’t trying to hurt her either, wasn’t trying to throw her against a wall or table, and wasn’t trying to make her hate herself.

He was only trying to get her to let him _in_.

She stopped struggling, and her head landed on his shoulder. Her body started to shake slightly as the sobs racked up in her body.

The realization that Beck wasn’t trying to hurt her struck a chord and, for a moment, she let her walls down. He was giving her something she never got from Liam and she didn’t know how to handle it.

This was the first time Jade had cried without being hit in months.


	6. By Now

* * *

_“If I could say what you’d like to hear, I’d whisper in your ear ‘it’s only temporary.’” – Marianas Trench_

* * *

Cat sat there awkwardly and let Jade cry in Beck’s arms. She wasn’t sure what else she could do. She wanted to get off the table and hug her friend tightly, but she knew Beck needed to hug her first. Cat wished they never broke up since they were so good for each other, but she learned a long time ago not to get involved in Jade’s love life. Jade never reacted positively to people meddling with her affairs.

It took a week for Cat’s scar to go away.

When Jade was done crying, she apologized for being mean and Cat was happy again. She spent the rest of the lunch period with Jade and Beck, laughing about a movie her brother made her watch. She still wanted to know who that man was yesterday, but she forced herself to leave it alone since it would upset Jade again.

She was thankful that the rest of the day was normal.

* * *

**_Sometimes the one you want is not the one you need._ **

* * *

For a while, everything was calm and quiet. Cat still hadn’t told Danny she was pregnant and she didn’t have to worry about trying to hide the nearly non-existent bump that was forming like Jade did.

They were starting to fight a lot more, though.

Most of their fights were about sex. He wanted it, but she was tired. He wanted it, but she didn’t feel well. He wanted it, but it was that time of the month. She wanted to cuddle up with him and watch movies, but he wanted to get into her pants.

“I really don’t feel good, Danny,” Cat breathed as she gently pushed away from him. She got off his bed and crossed her bare arms, keeping her back to him. Her shirt was at the other end of Danny’s room on one of his baseball trophies.

Danny shot off the bed. “You never want to!” he shouted. “Am I not good enough for you, Cat? Is that it? Don’t you love me anymore?”

Cat snapped back to him with a hurt expression. “Of course I love you!” she cried. “But I don’t have to do… _that_ …to love you.”

“It would be nice if you did anyway,” he grumbled. He moved to her and gently placed his hands on her arms, looking down into her eyes while she looked at his bare chest. “We haven’t done anything in months, Cat, and you know how much I want you. I just can’t help myself around you.”

Cat looked away from him. “Why can’t we go on dates like we used to?” she asked. “Now all we do is go to school and work and motels.” Tears started coming to her eyes. “All you wanna do is… _that_.”

Danny rolled his eyes and dropped his hands. “Why can’t you say the stupid word, Cat?” he shouted. “It’s not a bad word, so just _say_ it!”

“ _Fine_!” Cat screeched, snapping to him with furious eyes. Tears and mascara were starting to stain her cheeks. “All you want is sex, Daniel, sex, sex, sex! I can’t tell if you love me anymore. You make me feel like all you ever want to do is _fuck_ me!” She immediately gasped and covered her mouth.

Danny stared at Cat in open-mouthed shock. “ _That_ was a bad word,” he pointed out quietly.

Cat slapped him on the arm, clenching her teary eyes shut as she did so, and ran to get her shirt.

“Where are you going?” Danny called after her. She was putting her pink baby doll top back on as she darted down the stairs.

“Home!”

“How are you getting back?” he shouted as he grabbed his shirt and hurried out of his room.

“I can walk,” she spat as her hand reached the doorknob. She was out the door and already darting down the block before Danny could say anything else to her.

“ _Daniel Nolan Kerrigan_!” his mother seethed from the kitchen doorway. He stopped in his tracks and turned to his mother, his shirt falling from his hand. Her greying black hair was pulled into a messy bun and she wore ripped up jeans as well as a collar-less ACDC shirt that was clearly a size too small for her large chest. Her bright hazel eyes glared at her son as she frowned disapprovingly.

“Are you _sleeping_ with that girl?” she asked. She put the cup she was drying down on the kitchen counter.

“’That girl’ is _Cat_ , Ma,” he reminded her, not meeting her eyes. “You know her.”

“Answer my question, Daniel Nolan,” she demanded slower. “Are you sleeping with her?”

Danny lowered his eyes. “I _was_ …”

Mrs. Kerrigan stomped over to Danny and pulled at his ear. Danny let out small pained ‘ow’s and clenched his eyes shut. “What did I tell you about being careful with girls?”

His eyes shot open and looked into his mother’s. “I am, Ma!” he cried. “We use protection every time.”

Mrs. Kerrigan pulled at Danny’s ear more, much to his protests. “That little girl is _pregnant_ , Daniel Nolan!” she shouted incredulously. “Either _she’s_ sleeping around or _you_ don’t know what you’re doing, and I don’t think a sweet little girl like her would do such a thing.”

Danny stopped squirming under his mother’s hand, stunned by her words. She couldn’t be right. Cat _couldn’t_ be pregnant. They…she…Cat… No! She’d be showing, at least a little, right? To him, Cat didn’t look any different from the beautiful angel he’d been dating for a year. And…she’d tell him if she were pregnant, wouldn’t she? She loved him too much to cheat on him…

“She…can’t be,” he breathed. Other than that, he was speechless.

Mrs. Kerrigan slapped her son upside the head. “Do _not_ tell your father about this, do you understand me? Ask her what she wants to do about it and we’ll go from there.”

“But what if she doesn’t know she’s pregnant?”

Mrs. Kerrigan slapped him upside the head again. “She knows,” she hissed. “You can’t miss the bulge on her stomach. Oh wait, _you_ can because apparently all you want to do is have _sex_ with her!” She slapped her son upside the head one final time and started back for the kitchen, sucking her teeth. “That poor girl,” she mumbled, too low for her son to hear.

Danny simply stood in front of the open door, staring in shock down at the carpet.

* * *

**_Sometimes the one you want is not the one you need._ **

* * *

Cat finally stopped running when she looked back and Danny’s house was out of sight. She pulled her phone from her pocket (where she started keeping it, along with her candy, after Danny started grabbing at her chest) and called Beck. She wanted to call Jade, but Jade was angrier and scarier when she was pregnant, so there was a _strong_ possibility that she’d kill Danny. She already didn’t like Danny for ‘knocking Cat up’ as Jade so eloquently put it at one point. And even when Jade found out, it took Cat hours to calm her violent friend down.

 _“Cat?”_ Beck answered after two rings. _“Are you okay?”_

“Can you come get me?” she asked, ignoring his question. Her voice cracked slightly as she tried to keep her tears back.

_“Cat, what’s wrong?”_

“Please just come get me,” she begged. She started to sob slightly, but quickly covered her mouth.

_“Okay, where are you?”_

She uncovered her mouth when she was sure she wouldn’t cry. “I’m at Danny’s house,” she told him. This was the second time in a month that Cat had called Beck and begged him to come get her away from Danny. “Well, I’m about to go to the park with the big elephant. Can you come get me, please?”

_“Sure, Cat. I’ll be there in a minute.”_

Before anything else could be said, Cat hung up on him and stashed her phone back in her pocket. Holding herself slightly, she kept walking until she reached the park a moment later. Once she got there, she smiled at all the little children running around, screaming and playing.

One day, her little bundle of joy would be there screaming just as loud and playing just as enthusiastically.

As she watched a boy climb up to the monkey bars, she felt a tug on her jeans. She looked down to see a little blonde girl with wide green eyes looking up with her. Her hair was in one long braid down the back of her head and she had her free hand’s thumb in her mouth as she clung to a stuffed puppy.

“Hi, I’m Cat!” she greeted with a wide grin as she knelt down beside the girl.

The girl smiled softly and took her thumb out of her mouth. “I’m Cassandwa,” she announced, “But my mommy caws me Cassie.” Her thumb returned to her mouth.

“Cassandra’s a pretty name.”

Cassie smiled again and she took out her thumb. “Thank you, Miss Cat.” Her smile faltered. “Why were you sad before?” Instead of placing her thumb back into her mouth, she clung to her puppy tightly.

Confusion replaced Cat’s smile. “What do you mean?”

“When you got here, you wooked weal sad. My mommy gets sad when my daddy’s mean to her. Was your daddy mean to you?” Cassie’s thumb returned to her mouth.

Cat laughed softly and shook her head. “My daddy doesn’t live here,” she told Cassie. “My boyfriend was the one who was mean to me.”

“Is that him?” Cassie inquired as she looked around Cat.

Cat gasped and turned around, fearing that it would be Danny. She’d run away from his house before and she’d ran to the park as well, but he ran after her that time; the two talked it over and before she knew it, she found herself in his bed again feeling worse than before she left.

To her pleasant surprise, it was Beck climbing out of his truck and rushing to her. And in the passenger’s seat, was that…Robbie?

“Cassie,” a brunette woman in her thirties called out as she walked up to Cat as well, causing Cat to turn back around. Once she reached her daughter, she picked her up. “I told you not to talk to strangers, baby girl,” she reminded.

Cassie struggled in her mother’s grasp. “But Cat’s not a stranger no mores!” she protested. She struggled so much that she dropped her puppy, but Cat caught it before it hit the ground and stood up.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” she told Cassie’s mother as she held the toy. “I wouldn’t want anyone to hurt my baby, so I know how you feel.”

Cassie’s mother raised an eyebrow. “ _You_ have a child?” she questioned pointedly. “You’re just a child yourself.”

Beck stood next to Cat and put his hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Cat,” he urged.

“Not yet,” she answered, ignoring her friend. “But I will in a couple of months.”

“Cat let’s go,” Beck suggested as the older woman gasped slightly.

Cat sighed before smiling at the little girl in her mother’s arms. “It was nice meeting you, Cassie,” she said as she handed over the plush dog.

Cassie smiled a grin that was missing four teeth. “Thank you!” she announced joyously.

Cat waved goodbye and turned with Beck to the truck.

“Cat,” Beck began lowly once they were out of earshot of Cassie’s mother, “You can’t go around telling people that you’re gonna have a baby…”

She looked to him with big, confused eyes. “Why not?”

Beck frowned. How was he going to phrase this nicely? He paused as they reached his truck. “People…they might not…well see, they won’t…” He sighed again, contemplating the words. “That woman back there gasped when she heard you were pregnant. Most people would react that way. They’d think…really bad things about you and your baby.”

Cat gasped. “But that’s so mean!”

He nodded somberly. “I know,” he responded, “But that’s just how some people think.”

Cat frowned and opened the passenger door. “Hi, Robbie,” she greeted with her head down. She’d been avoiding him ever since she yelled at him and he hadn’t made any real efforts to try and talk to her either. Rex was nowhere in sight.

“Hi, Cat,” he greeted back. “How are you feeling?”

Her head snapped to him and hurt flashed across her face. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she cried.

Robbie immediately shrank back in fear. “I-I-I was just wondering how you were since Beck was worried about you,” he stammered out defensively.

“Oh,” she breathed.

Beck rolled his eyes. “Robbie, can you sit in the back?” he asked politely.

Robbie lowered his eyes and wordlessly climbed into the backseat. He never did anything right with Cat…

“Cat!” Danny called out, running down the street as she climbed into Beck’s truck. His shirt was now back on his body and he was sprinting at a very good speed. She gasped and slammed the door.

“ _Go_!” she pleaded. “Go, go, go!”

“Cat, where are you going?” she heard him call out. He picked up his pace and reached Beck’s truck just as it sped away. He stopped running and hunched over, panting loudly.

* * *

 

**_Sometimes the one you want is not the one you need._ **

* * *

“What happened back there, Cat?” Beck asked as he cruised down the road. “This is the second time I’ve had to come get you. I don’t mind it, but you need to tell me if something’s happening.”

Cat crossed her arms. “It doesn’t matter,” she told him. “Danny and I are just…we’re going through a rough time.”

“He’s not good for you, Cat,” Robbie piped up from the back seat. “You could do so much better.”

“What do you know?” she snapped, turning back to him with angered eyes. “You haven’t had a girlfriend since you were twelve!” She gasped again as soon as the words came out and quickly turned back around. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled as she sank into her seat.

“Cat,” Beck began quietly, “Maybe you should tell him.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Tell me what?”

“If you don’t tell him,” Beck threatened, “I will.”

“But I don’t want to!” she cried. “I don’t want anyone else knowing!”

“Knowing what? Someone tell me what I should be told!”

“ _Robbie, shut up_!” Cat screeched as she held her head. She leaned forward and started sobbing. “I don’t want anyone thinking less of me like you said they will,” she whispered to Beck when she managed to hold her sobs.

“I won’t think any less of you, Cat,” Robbie assured her as he leaned forward. He placed his hand on her shoulder. “You’re perfect, and I couldn’t think any differently.”

When Cat began to sob loudly again, Robbie shrunk back and Beck pulled the truck over. “Cat’s pregnant, Robbie,” Beck stated bluntly, staring forward.

Robbie started to choke on air and Cat gasped. “Beck!” she exclaimed. “Why would you say that?”

He turned to her. “He’s your _friend_ , Cat,” Beck reminded. “Friends are different than strangers.” He unbuckled his seatbelt. “I have to grab something from my RV and I’ll take you home, okay?”

“Kay, Kay,” Cat said with a small smile.

Then Beck climbed out of his truck and made his way to the RV, leaving Cat and Robbie alone in the truck.

“Does Danny know?” Robbie asked from the backseat once Beck left. He was looking at his hands in his lap, trying to take in the thought of Cat, his Cat, being pregnant by another man. He wanted her to bear his child one day, long after they were married though. This was putting a damper on his plans.

“No,” Cat mumbled quietly.

Great.

Danny got Cat pregnant and he didn’t even know it! It’s probably just as well; if Danny knew his girlfriend was pregnant, he never would have let her run away. He also wouldn’t be letting some guy he didn’t even know drive his girl God knows where. _I bet he won’t even want the baby_ , Robbie thought ruefully to himself. _He doesn’t look like the kind of guy who would want to take care of a child at 18. Or is he 17? It doesn’t even matter; he’s no good for her_.

“Do you hate me, Robbie?” Cat asked softly. She kept her eyes in her lap, refusing to look at him out of fear of his answer.

After a moment of silence, Cat heard the backseat move as Robbie leaned forward. He gently put his hand on her shoulder. “I could never hate you, Cat,” he assured her with a smile she didn’t see. “You’re perfect.”

Cat laughed softly. “No I’m not,” she denied.

Robbie’s hand moved to her face and he gently turned her to face him. “Yes you are,” he stated adamantly. “Anyone who doesn’t think that is stupid and unworthy of you.”

“You mean that?” Cat asked with wide, hopeful eyes.

“Yeah,” Robbie smiled.

She smiled back at them, and for a moment she forgot about Danny. She didn’t feel scared around Robbie—though he creeped her out on several occasions—and she didn’t have to worry about him hating her for being pregnant. And she knew that he’d respect her enough to not want to try and sleep with her unless she wanted to.

On impulse, he kissed her.

His lips brushed against her slightly and she found herself kissing him back. It was everything he’d ever dreamed of. Her soft, pink lips melted into his own, leaving hints of strawberries behind. He kissed her like he’d never kissed another girl before, and he put in a passion that only one other guy had ever shown her. She felt herself fall into him, becoming one with him. There was no anger, no fear, no sadness in his kiss; there was only love.

When they broke the kiss, she pressed her forehead to his. “I love you,” she breathed.

Robbie smiled softly and kept his eyes closed, breathing in her scent. “I love you, too…”

Cat gasped and her eyes shot open. She pushed Robbie back into his seat and turned around, shrinking into her own. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

She refused to say anything else until she got back home.

 

**Cat: 12 weeks**

**Jade: 18 weeks**


	7. How

* * *

_“I'm asking for your help. I am going through hell, afraid nothing can save me but the sound of your voice. You cut out all the noise.” – Maroon 5_

* * *

After crying in Beck’s arms, Jade assimilated back into her group of occasional friends and things were semi-normal. Everyone still walked on eggshells around her since she was moodier than usual, but she liked that. She didn’t have to try so hard to repress her ever raging hormones.

Things were even… _slightly_ better when she went home.

Liam grew more idyllic as he came to terms with the fact that his sister was pregnant; he was no Casanova, but he did make sure she was comfortable, especially since she was showing (when she wasn’t wearing her baggy sweatshirt, of course).

And if anything, he was becoming a little smothering.

She would have liked it if he left her alone, but he decided to be a dutiful father and monitored her at all times while she was at home. He made sure he took her vitamins in the morning, took a healthy lunch with her to school, made sure she ate only healthy snacks and dinner when she was hungry, and even tucked her in at her newly mandated ten o’clock bedtime. If anything, he was being a _mother_.

She felt like she was twelve again, so she felt slightly better.

* * *

**_I’d kill if I could take you back._ **

* * *

“So what’s for lunch today, girlie?” Robbie asked Cat as he parked his keister at the table. The little redhead sighed from the other side of the table. She kept her eyes on the salad she obviously had in front of her. She refused to talk to him ever since they kissed in Beck’s truck. Jade sat closer to her and narrowed her eyes at Robbie. She didn’t like the little skeez, especially when he tried to take advantage of her best friend.

“Leave her alone,” Jade growled.

“That’s the best you got?” Rex enticed from Robbie’s lap. Robbie thought getting rid of Rex for a while would be the key to getting Cat to liking him, but she snubbed him so at least he could find company in his puppet friend.

“Get that damn puppet out of my sight before I dismantle it and shove it in a _wood chipper_!” she shouted. Robbie yelped in fear and lowered Rex under the table before ducking his own head.

“Jade can you _please_ not terrify Robbie?” Beck pleaded tiredly, tearing apart his pizza. “We don’t need a repeat of what happened last time.”

“I only read one Spark Blood book!” he cried in defense.

“Three,” Rex corrected from under the table.

“ _Three_ Spark Blood books!”

Jade rolled her eyes and picked at her whole wheat pasta. Lucky for her, Beck got her the junk food she wanted before she came to school and he’d be on call all day to get her whatever she craved. She had a large bag of M&Ms on the table in front of her that she would soon devour, but she promised herself she’d eat that garbage her brother called food.

If she ever envied anyone for anything (which she didn’t), she envied Cat for being able to eat greasy pizza, Sloppy Joes, macaroni and cheese, and…

“I have _great_ news!” Tori announced as she bounced up to the table. Her arm was locked with Andre’s and he didn’t look half as happy as she did.

“I like _great_ news!” Cat exclaimed as she lifted her head with a wide grin. Again, Jade rolled her eyes.

“Tori, I don’t think now’s a good time,” André announced skeptically.  “Maybe we should wait.”

“No way!” Tori defied as she sat down beside Robbie. “It’s great news and I wanna tell them now.”

“ _Just tell us already_!” Jade screamed, causing everyone around to jump and look at the table. Cat frowned and wrapped her arm around Jade’s to settle her friend. She leaned her head on Jade’s shoulder and looked to Tori.

Tori narrowed her eyes for a moment at Jade. “Anyway,” Tori started as she turned to Cat and Beck. She leaned in close to the table and looked up at them through her lashes. “I’m _pregnant_!” she exclaimed in an excited whisper.

“ _What_?” Jade screeched, shooting up from the table. “ _Please_ tell me you’re just a moron!”

Tori sat up and crossed her arms with a grimace. “And here I never thought I’d live to hear you say ‘please.’”

Jade scoffed with a disbelieving sneer. “You think this is _funny_?” she shouted. “You think being pregnant at seventeen is something to be _proud_ of?” She looked to André. “And _you_ ,” she singled out, pointing a finger to him. “You’ve only been dating for, _how long_? _Six_ weeks? And you’ve already been in her pants? You’re disgusting.”

“And who are _you_ to tell us that _we’re_ wrong?” Tori screamed, rising to her feet. Now everyone in the Asphalt Café had their eyes on that table, shocked that the little Vega had it in her to be as loud as her obnoxious sister.

“Because _I’m_ not a dirty little slut!”

“Now, Jade,” André started through grit teeth.

“If I’m a _slut_ , then what are you?” Tori raised as she motioned to the Goth. “Look what you’re _wearing_ Jade. A sweatshirt in this weather? You’re hiding something, and it’s _pretty_ obvious what it is.”

“Tori, don’t,” Beck advised.

“Let her say it,” Jade demanded, keeping her eyes locked on the Latina. “Let her get whatever she has to say off her _flat_ chest!”

Tori gasped in offense. “Where do you get off insulting me the way you do?” she asked. “You walk around here acting _so_ perfect. Why don’t you show us what you’re hiding, huh?” She laughed in spite of herself. “That’s alright, though,” she rolled on, “You don’t have to tell us. It’s so blatantly _obvious_ that you’re pregnant, too. You’re an ignorant tramp and a dirty little slut just like me.” Tori sneered and stood her ground.

“ _Jade West, you’re nothing but a whore_!”

Half of the students expected the world to stop momentarily before everything and everyone exploded to rubble. No one had ever called Jade West a whore in public, let alone stood up to her, and the world’s least likely person just did. They didn’t know what to expect.

But boy, the half that expected Jade to retaliate sure did get a hell of a show.

Jade ran around the table and charged for Tori, growling all the while. At least she had enough sense—or control, whatever you want to call it—to not lunge over the table like she normally would have done. André tried to block her, but Jade shoved him out of the way and wrapped her hands around Tori’s neck. Cat screamed out in fear to her friend, too terrified to try and pry her away, while Robbie shrieked and jumped away from the scene. When she wasn’t scratching at Tori’s cheek while Tori pulled at her hair, Jade brought her fist down on Tori’s face repeatedly.

“You have _no_ right to call me that!” she exploded as her fist continued to collide with the smaller girl’s face.

“Jade, _stop_!” Beck demanded as he tried to pull her away.

“This is your fault!” Jade screamed, ignoring Beck’s hands. Her rage was blinding. “You blamed me!” Blood splattered onto her fists, but she continued to brutalize Tori’s face. “It wasn’t my fault for what happened to her! You had no right to take it out on me, Liam!”

She was about to bring her fist down on Tori’s face once more when Beck managed to catch her wrist. “ _Stop_ ,” he commanded loudly. The intensity in his voice shocked her, and her body ceased to move.

She felt a sharp kick in her stomach and let out a noise of pain, falling backward into his arms.

“Jade?” he cried. “Jade what’s wrong?”

Tears began to well in her eyes and she sighed out. “I’m fine,” she insisted breathlessly. She cried out in pain again as another sharp kick erupted in her stomach.

“André, help me get her up,” Beck pleaded as he began to lift Jade off the ground.

“Kinda busy here,” he returned. Beck looked up to see him cradling an unconscious Tori in his arms. Her face was bloodied, bruised, and barely recognizable. Her breathing was shallow as he quickly carried her inside.

* * *

**_I’d kill if I could take you back._ **

* * *

Naturally, Jade was sent home after word got out about her attack on Tori. Liam was called to the school, but he told Principal Dubois to let Jade drive herself home because he was positive that she would come home. Normally, she wouldn’t have allowed a student to do as such, but Liam was a smooth-talker and convinced her otherwise. As soon as he hung up the phone with the principal, Liam called Jade and demanded she bring her ‘delinquent ass home’ before he ‘bashed her skull in with a tire iron.’

He’d used one of those before. Granted, he didn’t bash her skull in, but it wasn’t any fun nonetheless.

When she got home, he was waiting for her in the doorway with his arms crossed.

“You’re dropping out,” Liam promulgated as Jade shut her car door.

“ _What_?” she spat, stopping before she could take a step toward the house.

“I said ‘you’re dropping out,’” he repeated as he walked out to her. “Once you have the twins and things settle down, I’ll think about letting you go back.”

“You can’t do that!” she protested as he grabbed her roughly by the arm. “It’s _law_ that I go to school!”

“Shut up,” he snarled as he pulled her inside the house. “You’re turning eighteen next week so it doesn’t even matter. You can take online classes for all I care.” He pushed her inside the house and slammed the door. “I’m real tired of your shit, Jade,” he scowled. “You can’t go _one day_ without making my life a living hell, can you?”

“ _Your_ life?” Jade repeated loudly. “Everything isn’t about you! If anything, you make _my_ life a living hell!”

“I’m trying to teach you a lesson, you little shit.”

“How? By beating me up every chance you get? By getting me pregnant? _Tell me_ how that’s teaching me a lesson!”

“If you stopped doing all the shit you do, then I wouldn’t have to hit you! And maybe if you had any idea how to use that damn birth control that _I_ pay for with _my_ money, you wouldn’t be pregnant with our bastard children.”

“The only bastard here is you!” Jade threw a pillow from the couch at him, but he caught it before it hit his face. “If you had any idea what a condom was, _then_ I wouldn’t be pregnant! What else do you think happens when you fuck without protection, huh?” She threw her bag to the floor. “And don’t give me that bullshit about _you_ buying my pills,” she continued with a dark countenance. “The government pays for that. Just because you were in the military does _not_ mean you’re part of the government.”

Liam slapped her across the face. “ _Shut_ the hell up,” he ordered lowly. His hard, blue-green eyes stared into hers. “You’ll sit your ass down on the couch until I make you dinner, do you understand me? Until those goddamn children are born, you’re not gonna leave this house.”

“Why do you care so much?” Jade questioned, returning his hard gaze. “You called them bastards.”

“Because they’re _mine_ ,” he shouted, spitting on her as he spoke. “They may be inside you but they are _my_ children. I’m not going to let you fuck them up, do you understand me?”

“Whatever,” she mumbled as she looked away from him.

“ _Do you understand me?_ ”

“I understand you!”

He threw her down on the couch and she bounced slightly. “Keep yourself busy until dinner’s ready,” he instructed coldly as he went into the kitchen to grab a beer.

* * *

**_I’d kill if I could take you back._ **

* * *

Jade sat on her couch finishing one of her novels, just as she’d been doing for the past five hours. She broke from it on occasion to go to the bathroom—since she had two butter beans sitting on her bladder—or to get her snack that consisted of fruits and vegetables (Liam would snatch anything else out of her hand since he stayed in the kitchen the entire time).

This novel she was scribbling away in her notepad was about a married woman who had to cope with an in-vitro process that left her physically scarred and unwilling to go on with her life. The idea of clinical fertilization and its possible repercussions fascinated Jade. It was something ‘Anastasia DeVrough’ would soon be famous for writing.

Beck texted her occasionally, checking in on her, and she would respond with snappy comments about how she wanted gross foods like Ranch-covered jelly beans, mashed potatoes mixed with buffalo sauce, and—worst of all— _pork rinds_ , but her diet wouldn’t allow any of it.

“Get your lazy ass up and get in here,” Liam demanded from the kitchen. Jade quickly stuffed her phone into her bag and hoisted herself up off the couch. She sighed as she took her seat at the table. Was this all she had left to look forward to for the next four months? She groaned to herself.

This was going to be a long _four_ months.

* * *

**_I’d kill if I could take you back._ **

* * *

After dinner, Liam exiled Jade to her room and she begrudgingly complied. Her father caught up for the last part of dinner, but quickly bailed once it was over to presumably find more hookers and do God-knows-what. She continued to write her novel while she waited for her brother to fall asleep.

Finally, he came to her room around midnight to make sure she was still there. When he saw her pretending to be asleep, he went back to his own room and slammed the door shut, rattling her wall.

She smiled slightly to herself and grabbed her phone from the night stand. Her thumbs sped away as she texted Beck, telling him he could come over. While Liam had sentenced her to the couch, Jade took the liberty of texting and telling him that she’d quit school until the babies were born and things had settled down as well as ‘keeping the babies’ health up’ as the fake reason why. She told him to be near her house by midnight and that she would text him when he could pull up to the house.

Moments later, she heard his tires roll up to her house. She put her phone in her pocket and climbed out her window before scaling down the flower ladder on the side of her house. She didn’t move as fast as she used to, but she made it to Beck’s truck quickly.

“So are you gonna tell me what’s going on?” he asked.

Jade shook her head and kept her eyes forward. “Nope,” she answered curtly. “Just get me out of here.”

Beck sighed and took his foot off the brake, letting his truck roll down the block. Once he was four houses away, he started the engine and began to drive. “Why don’t you ever tell me what’s going on with you?” he asked as they began the drive to his house.

Jade grimaced. “My mother always told me: ‘What happens in this house stays in this house’ so—”

“Mind my own business,” he finished monotonously. “I got it, Jade.”

“Then why do you keep asking?”

Beck slammed his foot down on the brake and gripped the steering wheel tightly. “Because I actually give a damn about you!” he snapped, eyeing her intently.

“Why?” Jade shouted back, glaring at him. “Why would you care so much, Beck? We’re not even together!”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t love you and our children!” he screamed.

“They’re not your goddamn children!” she shrieked. She gasped and looked away from him.

“…W-what?” he stammered quietly.

Jade sighed, threw off her seatbelt, pushed open her door, and climbed out of the truck.

“Jade!” Beck called as she stormed off. He cut the engine and got out of the truck. He placed his hands on the top of the hood and watched her run off to the ravine they used to go to when they first started dating. With a long, drawn out sigh, he took off after her.

When he reached her, she was leaning against her favorite Weeping Willow tree. “I shouldn’t have texted you,” she announced as she stared at the water.

“But you did,” he reminded her as he stuck his hands in his pockets. “When were you going to tell me?”

“Probably fourteen years from now when everything was starting to work itself out,” she said as she crossed her arms.

“So do you want to tell me who the father is?”

“No.”

“Is it your dad?”

“No!” Jade screamed, shooting her head to him. “Why do you always assume it’s my father, huh? I am not some girl in a sappy, cliché abuse story where her father drinks too much, slaps her around, and molests her! Maybe I just had a one night stand and covered it up.”

Beck crossed his arms. “Well did you?” he asked calmly. “Please don’t lie to me.”

Jade looked back at him with tired eyes. “No,” she sighed out. “I didn’t.”

Beck looked out to the water for a moment and watched the calm water flow. He could see himself in it, splashing around with Jade like they used to. He wished he could pick her up right now and jump into the water with her. Maybe they’d float away from Hollywood to some small town where no one goes and forget all that’d happened over the past year.

He pursed his lips for a moment before he spoke. “Was it that ‘Liam’ guy?”

Jade’s shoulders tensed and she looked to him. “What are you talking about?” she mumbled. “I never said anything about a ‘Liam.’” She could hear her heart beating rapidly in her ears. She could feel her deepest secret was about to be exposed.

“Today at school,” Beck explained, “You were beating up Tori, but you called her ‘Liam.’”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did,” he argued calmly.

“I didn’t, Beck, so shut up about it.”

Beck laughed scornfully. “That’s it, isn’t it?” he asked accusingly. “This ‘Liam’ guy is the one who’s been beating you up and he’s the one that got you pregnant isn’t he? So who is he? Your uncle? Cousin? What?”

Jade sank down to her feet against the tree and began pulling at tufts of grass. “He’s no one,” she lied. “I made him up.”

“ _Stop_ lying to me,” Beck demanded as he stormed over to her. Jade instinctively flinched, using one hand to block her face and the other to block her stomach. Beck knelt beside her and took her hands. As Jade relaxed her body, she looked at her hands and slowly trailed her eyes up to his.

“You know I’d never do anything to hurt you, Jade.”

A small, sad laugh escaped her lips. “I’m not afraid of what happens to me,” she breathed. A tear trailed down her cheek and glistened in the moonlight. There was no need in wiping it away. “I’m afraid of what might happen to you…and _terrified_ of what might happen to Cat.”

“Why?” he breathed. He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “You can tell me anything…”

Jade clenched her eyes shut to keep any more tears from falling. “I can’t,” she whispered.

Beck took in a deep breath and gently grabbed her face. He pulled away from her slightly and her reddening eyes opened. He stared deeply into her eyes. He was about to say something he’d long to say for a while now and he was beginning to feel nervous.

“I love you, Jade,” he exhaled quietly.

She gasped quietly and pulled her head from him so she could look away. “Don’t say that,” she ordered with a shaking voice. “You don’t mean it.”

“Yes I do,” Beck protested, taking her hands.

“Why?” Jade questioned loudly as she yanked her hands from him and turned to face him once more. “Why would you love me? I was a horrible girlfriend!”

Beck nodded slightly and looked down at the grass. “Near the end,” he began sheepishly, “Yeah.”  He looked back up to her. “But the way you were acting came out of nowhere. I knew you still loved me even despite the way you were acting. Why else would you sleep with me if you didn’t love me?”

Jade scowled. “Maybe I just slept with you to get it out of my system because I was ready to move on,” she suggested adamantly.

“Well did you?”

She sighed and closed her eyes. “No…” She leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder. He enveloped her in his arms and she sighed out. “I didn’t want to break up with you, and I didn’t want you to leave me. But…it had to happen.”

He locked his fingers in her hair. “Why?” he asked quietly. “Why did it have to happen?”

She sobbed quietly. “I’m so tired,” she cried. “I’m tired of having to lie to everyone, to you. I’m tired of having to fight to stay alive and I’m tired of the way things are.”

She pulled away from him to look at him with watering eyes. “You were the only thing that kept me grounded,” she confessed, “But he made me leave you.” She laughed scornfully. “The one thing that made everything bearable…and he took it away from me. If it weren’t for Cat…I don’t think I’d even be here right now…”

Beck sighed and closed his eyes. He pulled her close and held her tightly. “I would never stop loving you, Jade,” he assured her. “I’d stay as long as you want me to, no matter what.”

Jade laughed softly and kissed his neck. “I love you…”

He kissed her forehead. “I love you too…”

* * *

**_I’d kill if I could take you back._ **

* * *

“Jade!” Cat exclaimed as she saw her friend walking with Beck out to the Asphalt Café two days after her alleged suspension. Tori flinched into André and Cat jumped up to go hug her friend tightly. “I thought you were suspended!”

Jade smirked as she casually hugged her friend back. “I was,” she confirmed, “But I convinced the principal to give me a second chance.” She gently patted her stomach. “I told her about my…situation and she agreed to let me come back to school since my education is _so_ important.” She looked to Tori with a grimace; she already had a black eye and a few bruises on her face as well as her neck. It was a wonder she didn’t press charges…

Jade walked over to Tori, holding Beck’s hand tightly, and climbed onto a seat so she could look out over the Asphalt Café. Tori’s breath caught and she leaned into Andre who protectively wrapped his arm around her, looking at Jade with a not so pleasant stare.

“Everyone shut up!” she screamed. Several students jumped at the intensity of her voice and everyone quieted down, turning their gaze to the dark-haired girl in baggy black sweatpants and an oversized black sweatshirt. “I have an announcement, so pay attention.”

She turned to Tori. “Yesterday,” she began, “I assaulted a fellow student out of anger and I know that was wrong of me.” She clenched her teeth. “So I would like to say to Tori Vega that I’m… _sorry_ for beating you up. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but to know how I feel.” With that, Beck helped her down and they sat at the table.

Everyone else went back to eating.

“I forgive you,” Tori announced quietly after an awkward silence. “And…I’m sorry for the things I said to you.”

Jade nodded and picked at her pizza. That was all she cared about right now; she gave Cat her healthy lunch and made Beck buy her some pizza with barbeque sauce, chili cheese fries, onion rings, and the largest cup of coffee he could find. Her stomach started growling and she dug in, eating like she’d never eaten before.

Beck smiled slightly to himself as he watched her from the corner of his eye and was glad he could help her get out of her house…at least for the school day. If supplying her with food and things that would put this Liam guy to sleep long enough for Jade to be with those who loved her, then he would do it in a heartbeat.

There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her.

 

**Cat: 14 weeks**

**Jade: 20 weeks**


	8. Doing It Wrong

* * *

_"When a good thing goes bad it's not the end of the world. We live in a generation of not being in love and not being together, but we sure make it feel like we're together. You'll say you love me, and I'll end up lying and say I love you too." - Drake_

* * *

"Are you  _really_  pregnant, Tori?" Cat asked with a wide, curious grin as they sat on Tori's couch. They were watching  _The Lion King_  when the thought popped into her head. She wanted Jade to come with her so they could spend time together like they used to, but Jade had other plans…as usual.

Tori laughed slightly before taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl. "For the tenth time, Cat,  _yes_!" she exclaimed happily. "There's a little baby inside of me."

"Does your mommy know?"

Tori snickered slightly as she ate more popcorn. "Of course," she replied obviously. "I don't keep secrets from my mom. Besides, she'd find out anyway."

"She doesn't like that Tori's pregnant," Trina announced as she plopped down on the couch beside Tori and took the bowl of popcorn from her sister's hands. "Dad's so angry he won't even  _look_  at her." She turned up the movie as she munched on the popcorn and Tori grimaced. She snatched the bowl back from Trina.

"He'll come around," she spat. She turned back to Cat. "He's really...disappointed in me; he won't even let Andre come over anymore. But I know he won't be so upset once he sees my baby's cute little face." She beamed brightly as she ate popcorn and turned back to the movie.

Cat placed her hand on her stomach. "I wanna dress my baby in those fuzzy little onesies with the bear ears," she whispered to herself, not caring if Tori heard (which she didn't). "Then no one would hate us." She smiled slightly, thinking about how her baby would be the cutest little baby in the world with his or her onesy on.

* * *

**_But I need someone different..._ **

* * *

Cat hadn't talked to Danny in two whole weeks and she was starting to get worried. He'd tried calling her for the first few days, but her phone was pretty much silent after that. He didn't visit her at school like he used to, he didn't leave flowers in her locker anymore, and he didn't bother with popping by her house to surprise her.

Maybe he was mad at her for leaving him...again.

But it's not like she had a choice! He kept trying to pressure her and she was sore in places that were never sore until she got pregnant. That, and her nipples were practically the size of coasters (or so it felt) which was pretty embarrassing... She  _had_  to get away from him, so he shouldn't be mad at her.

But he hadn't bother calling her…

When the movie was over, Tori got up to go to the bathroom and Trina skulked back to her room. Cat pulled her phone from her bra and started texting Danny.

_Why haven't you called me?_

She waited for his response, but Tori came back and she stuffed her phone back in her bra.

"Are you ready to watch  _Aladdin_?" Tori asked as she plopped down beside her petite friend.

Cat shrugged absently. "I guess," she responded passively. She'd wanted to watch that movie for a long time because Jade kept saying Beck looked like Aladdin and Cat never understood the reference.

Tori frowned. "Are you okay?" she asked slightly concerned.

Cat nodded to her with a smile. "Yeah," she breathed. "I'm just waiting for Daniel to text me."

Tori grimaced. "I don't think you should worry about him," she announced. "He hasn't talked to you in two weeks—I can see it on your face. He's not as nice as you think he is, Cat…"

"I think you should mind your own business!" Cat shouted as she jumped up from the couch. "Daniel's always been nice to me! We're just...not all the way happy right now. But I'm gonna fix it and make it better. I don't need you and everyone else trying to tell me what to do!"

Tori sighed and stood up. "I wasn't trying to tell you what to do, Cat," she said. "I'm just trying to look out for you. I don't want you getting hurt."

Cat crossed her arms and fell back onto the couch. "I don't need anyone looking out for me," she announced. "My mommy promised to always keep me safe."

Tori sighed again and sat back down, this time further away from Cat.

Just as the next movie was about to start, Cat's phone buzzed in her bra; she quickly took it out and her face fell when she saw the text was from Robbie.

**_Can we talk about the kiss, Cat?_ **

With a deep sigh, Cat clicked up her response.

_It was just a mistake, Robbie. I was upset and I was confused. I thought I was kissing Daniel._

**_Is that what you say or what JADE told you to say?_ **

She stared at his text for a short moment, contemplating on her reply. It was true: Jade told her that she probably kissed Robbie because she was upset about running away from Danny. That, and her hormones were going so crazy that she wanted to punch, kiss, and scream at Danny all at the same time…but she kissed Robbie instead—thinking he was Danny.

But did she really believe what Jade said? After all, she knew she was kissing Robbie. There was no doubt about that. But she loved Danny…and that's why those three words slipped out. But Robbie…she didn't know he could kiss like that! He kissed her with so much love and passion that it scared her, but there was safety lingering on his lips and it assured her that he wasn't going to hurt her. Danny's kisses didn't have that kind of safety. His touch surely didn't have that kind of safety…

Finally, she composed her reply.

_Idk…I love Daniel, but I knew I kissed you. I liked it…but I shouldn't have…_

After closing the message, Cat continued to stare at the conversation with Robbie. Should she have said that? Should she have said all of it? What would Robbie think? She didn't want to give him the wrong idea, which she felt like she did, but there was no taking it back now. Cat stared at her phone for at least five minutes, waiting for Robbie to respond, and turned back to the movie. She was supposed to be watching  _Aladdin_  with Tori because, by some mystical tragedy, she had never seen it…and she didn't even know what was going on. So when Aladdin was on a flying carpet trying to outfly lava, she was confused but delightfully entertained. Robbie's text, however, interrupted her focus.

**_Is there any chance for us?_ **

Cat huffed, hating herself for putting the idea in his head.

_I don't think so Robbie. I need Danny to be there for our baby._

**_But I love you, Cat. He can't love you like I can!_ **

Cat clenched her eyes shut and took in a deep breath. She'd waited two years for Robbie to say that to her, but he didn't. And now that she was with someone else, he wanted to confess his feelings? Come on! Why would he do that? Doesn't he realize how much that could hurt her?

Cat quickly wiped away a tear before Tori could see and furiously typed away on her phone.

_But YOU aren't the father of my baby Robbie!_

She kept trying to hold in her tears because she didn't want to cry around Tori. She wanted to be with Jade if she was gonna cry. But she wasn't with Jade, so she had to conceal. And it's really hard to fight your tears when your hormones are running crazy.

Cat was gripping her phone so tightly as she concentrated on not crying that she didn't even feel her phone vibrate. But the light flashed and caught her attention.

**_The one who raises the child is the father, Cat, not the one who helped make it. My stepdad is more of a father than mine will ever be…_ **

She couldn't hold back the tears anymore. But these weren't sad tears; these were angry. Cat screamed out in frustration and threw her phone. It barely missed Tori's TV and slammed into the wall behind it, shattering into many sparkling pieces.

Tori shrieked slightly as Cat shrank into herself. "Cat!" she exclaimed. "Why would you  _do_  that?"

Cat put her forehead to her knees and groaned loudly. "I'm mad," she grumbled. She started sobbing slightly and Tori leaned over to place a comforting hand on Cat's shoulder.

"What's wrong, Cat?" she questioned worriedly. "You can tell me…"

"It's just Daniel," she lied quietly. "He won't talk to me."

Tori leaned away slightly. "So…you threw your phone at my wall…because Danny won't talk to you?" Her voice was mocking, and her face incredulous. She raised a questioning eyebrow at her friend.

"Stop judging me!" Cat screamed as her head snapped to Tori. "You're always judging me! You think I'm stupid!"

She jumped up from the couch and sped to the front door. She ripped it open as Tori called out to her and slammed it loudly as she darted away from the house. Tori quickly ran to the door and pulled it open.

"Cat, wait!" she called as Cat sped down the sidewalk. She would have ran after her, but her mother had essentially grounded her and Trina was narc.

* * *

**_But I need someone different…_ **

* * *

Before she knew it, Cat was back home. Her mother's car was in the driveway, which didn't make a lot of sense; Mrs. Valentine didn't usually get off work for three more hours. Cat walked up to the front door and unlocked it, sliding inside and gently closing the door.

"Mommy?" she called nervously.

"In the kitchen," her mother called out. Her voice was sweet and Cat could hear her mother humming gently. The smells of baked goods wafted to her nose.

Cat smiled widely and skipped to the kitchen. Her mother was obviously in a good mood, so maybe she wouldn't get upset once Cat told her the news. Maybe she'd act like Tori's mom.

But then Cat stopped right before she skipped under the doorway leading into the kitchen. What if she reacted like Tori's dad did? She wouldn't be able to handle it if her mom hated her baby…

"Cat?" her mother called as she appeared in the doorway. Her beige dress-suit had been traded for the ripped jeans that Cat hadn't seen in years and a light green T-shirt. Her curly brown hair was pulled up into a bun and there were flour stains all over her clothes and hands. "Are you okay, baby?"

"Yeah," she lied as she lowered her eyes.

Her mother smiled slightly, ignoring her daughter's unusual reaction. "Good," she breathed. She softly grabbed Cat's hand and the warm touch assured Cat that everything was going to be alright. "Come into the kitchen and taste these cupcakes for me. My boss's birthday is tomorrow and I wanted to surprise her with cupcakes."

Cat's warm smile returned and she jumped into the kitchen. She picked up a blue-frosted vanilla cupcake and tore into it. But as she started to chew the sweet goodness of the cupcake, her stomach started turning. Knowing she wouldn't make it to the bathroom, she turned towards the sink and let it all out.

Once her stomach had been emptied, she stood up straight and refused to meet her mother's eyes. "Are you okay, baby?" she asked again. She placed the back of her hand on Cat's forehead. "You don't feel warm…"

Cat stepped back half a step, letting her mother's hand fall between them. "My tummy's been funny for a while," she announced quietly as she looked at her pink baby doll flats.

Mrs. Valentine stepped closer to her daughter and placed her hands on Cat's arms. "Well why didn't you say anything before, Cat?" she questioned. "If your stomach's been upset, it could be something serious. Do I need to take you to the doctor?"

Cat's head shot up. " _No_!" she answered a little too loudly. She lowered her voice and put her hand on her stomach. She wanted to say it…but she didn't know if she could. The words just didn't want to come out. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she might throw up again. So instead, she reached down to the hem of her shirt and pulled it up just enough to expose her little baby bump.

For a while, all was still and quiet as Cat and her mother looked at the little girl's protruding stomach. Slowly, Cat raised her eyes to look at her mother. Mrs. Valentine stood with her arms hanging at her sides, her face full of confused disbelief. She looked like a statue that was about to break at any second…

"M-mommy?" Cat stammered out sheepishly as she clenched her eyes shut.

Mrs. Valentine slapped her daughter across the face and Cat staggered backward, dropping her shirt back to its original place and holding the reddened spot on her face. "How  _could_  you?" her mother screamed. "How could you be so careless? I knew that little boy you're seeing was trouble, but I thought  _you_  knew better!"

"But I was afraid he wouldn't love me if I didn't…"

" _And_?" her mother seethed. "You know you're better than that. So what if he doesn't love you? There are other boys out there!"

"But I don't want to be like you!" Cat lashed out. She gasped and held her mouth. Her father left the family years ago because he didn't love his wife anymore. She told Cat that her father wasn't the right one and she would wait for someone who really loved her. No one in the household spoke of that, though…

"Get rid of it," her mother demanded through clenched teeth after a brief silence.

Cat gasped again. "I don't want to!" she cried out.

" _Caterina Danielle Valentine_ ," her mother yelled, "You get rid of that bastard inside of you or I'll force you to!"

"Why can't I just put my baby up for adoption like you did?" Cat pleaded, her voice shaking with the fear of actually harming the life inside her. Adoption wasn't the best idea, but it was better than ki…hurting her baby. And Jade told her that if she could, she might give her babies up for adoption, but she'd do an "open adoption" so she could still keep in contact with her children. Cat decided she would do that if she had to, and now it was looking like she would have to.

"Because you won't go through with it!" her mother answered loudly. "You're  _just_  like me, Caterina, right down to the roots. I couldn't give your brother up, and you won't be able to give up your child." Her mother's hand snatched Cat's arm and roughly pulled her out of the kitchen. They clomped up the stairs and Mrs. Valentine threw Cat's door open. "Either you get rid of that child or you get out of my house," she demanded. "I didn't work as hard as I could for you just to throw it all away. I will not be put through what I put my mother through."

Her daughter pulled free. "Stop it!" she begged. "I don't want to get rid of my baby!"

Mrs. Valentine laughed scornfully and stormed into her daughter's room. She ripped open Cat's closet door and pulled out the largest pink suitcase she could find. She threw it on the ground in front of her daughter's feet. "Then I guess you don't want to live here," she spat coldly.

Cat gaped at her mother, tears streaming down her face, as the older woman rummaged through Cat's things and tossed them at the suitcase. Cat screamed slightly and jumped over her suitcase. She grabbed her mother's wrist as she pulled folded pants out of Cat's drawers. "Stop," she cried out. "Don't make me leave!"

Mrs. Valentine tore her wrist away and shoved Cat slightly. "You're not welcome in this house!" she seethed. "You don't respect me enough to listen and learn from my mistakes, and I won't have a disrespectful child in my home." As she tossed shoes at the suitcase, she moved back to the closet and pulled out another suitcase. Cat stood by, cowering and afraid to move.

When Mrs. Valentine had crammed as much stuff into the two suitcases as possible, she shoved one at Cat and took the other one. With her free hand, she grabbed Cat harshly by the arm and pulled her down the stairs. "I will  _not_  have disrespectful children and their bastard seeds in my home," she announced.

"But where am I gonna go?" Cat cried out. "I live here!"

"Not anymore you don't," her mother retorted as she quickly escorted her through the front door. "You can ask the little shit that got you pregnant to take you in."

Then she slammed the door, leaving her broken daughter out to dry. Cat started sobbing loudly, hoping her mother would come back out and say she didn't mean it, but she never came…

Hands shaking, Cat pulled her phone from her bra and to dial Danny, but then she remembered that she broke her phone at Tori's house. So instead, she fished around in her pockets for some spare change and made her walk of shame to the nearest payphone.

She didn't want to break down and call him first, but things were more complicated now. She needed him and she couldn't wait for him to come to get first. As she put the coins in the machine and dialed the number she memorized by heart, she bit her bottom lip. Would he take her in? Would he treat her the way her mother did? Would he even pick up the phone? She could feel her heart sinking as the phone continued to ring.

And finally:

_"Hello?"_

"Daniel!" Cat cried into her phone. "I didn't think you'd pick up!"

_Danny sighed on his end of the phone. "Cat," he began nervously, "I think we need to talk…"_

"We can talk later," she told him. "My mom just kicked me out and I don't have anywhere else to go. Can I stay with you?"

_"What?!" Danny exclaimed in disbelief. "Why did you get kicked out?"_

Tears started coming back to her eyes as she remembered what happened only just a few moments ago. "I…told my mom I…I'm having a baby…"

All was silent on Danny's end and Cat wondered if he hung up. His mother was right; he was an idiot that got a sweet little girl pregnant…

Cat pulled the phone away from her face to find that he was still on the line. "Daniel?" she called. "Are you still there?"

_"I can't," Danny said after the long silence_

"Can't…can't what?" she stammered through her tears.

_"I…can't raise a baby, Cat," he announced. "I'm barely seventeen. I'm so sorry I got you pregnant, but you…can't stay here. I can't be a part of your life anymore. Please…please don't call me anymore…"_

The disconnected tone rang in her ear before she could get another word in edge wise. Cat sighed and sank to the sidewalk, sitting on one of the suitcases outside of the phone booth. Her mom didn't want her, Danny didn't want her…It was all because of that baby inside her…

Why did no one want her baby like she did?

She was about to cry again, God she wanted to cry again, but she stood up and held in her tears. She grabbed her suitcases and began rolling them off down the sidewalk.

* * *

**_But I need someone different…_ **

* * *

It was a longer walk than she expected, especially with two large suitcases full of stuff weighing her down.

But, Cat finally made it to Jade's house.

She knocked twice on the door and, as she waited for it to open, the tears finally broke through the little wall she was trying so desperately to keep up.

Two seconds later, the door opened and Jade stood in the doorway. She wore one of her brother's large T-shirts over black leggings with white fuzzy socks to hide her feet. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun and she wore no makeup. Yellow bruises covered her face and neck, but Jade paid them no mind. This was the first time Cat had seen Jade all week and it scared her.

Now Cat could see just how big Jade's stomach was; even though she still had less than sixteen weeks to go, she looked like she was ready to burst.

Jade's eyes widened when she saw Cat standing outside. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a hushed whisper. "What did I tell you about surprise sleepovers?" Cat used to drop by unannounced with her suitcases in tow all the time because her mother was working overtime, her brother was MIA, or sometimes both. After her mother died, Jade told Cat that she needed to call every time she wanted to come over (not that she'd be able to stay over anyway).

"I to-told my mommy," she sobbed out. "She got mad and told me I couldn't stay at home anymore."

Jade gasped and opened her mouth to say something when another voice came from inside the house.

 _"Who's at the door?"_  a man's deep voice called out.

Jade physically stiffened and her eyes grew wide with fear. "It's that girl I told you I don't like," she lied in mock anger.

_"The one that deserves that pretty little ex-boy of yours?"_

Jade grimaced and gripped the side of the door tightly. "Yeah," she called back through grit teeth, "Her." She turned back to Cat. "Get the hell out of here!" she screamed. "I told you I hate you time and time again, so stop trying to be nice to me you stupid cunt!"

Cat gasped and Jade's face softened. She mouthed 'I'm sorry' to her petite friend before slamming the door in Cat's face. Cat started to cry again, but stopped when muffled voices rose behind the door.

_"I know you're lying," the man's voice announced._

_"No I'm not," Jade quietly replied. Cat almost didn't hear her._

_"I know that was your little friend, Cat," he stated a little louder. He sounded angry._

Jade started to say something, but then Cat heard her scream. Her breath hitched and she gripped the handles of her suitcases tightly. She ran with them away from Jade's house as fast as she could. Something wasn't right, but Cat wasn't in the position right now to do anything about it.

But she knew someone who could.

* * *

**_But I need someone different…_ **

* * *

By the time Cat got to Beck's house, she was exhausted. Her legs were shaking, her hands were blistering, and her feet felt like she was walking on broken glass. She was overheated and was about to collapse when Beck saw her in his parents' driveway and ran out from his RV to her.

"Cat, what are you doing?" he questioned once he reached her. Her legs finally decided to give out and she collapsed in his arms. He called out her name in fear, but she didn't respond. Her breathing was shallow and, carefully, he picked her up. He called out to Robbie to get her suitcases before carrying her inside the RV and setting her down gently on his bed.

When she awoke, she saw Robbie sitting beside her and screamed. He jumped up from the side of the bed and screamed as well.

"What are you doing?" Cat cried out as she scooted as far away from him on the bed as she could.

"Beck told me to watch you while he got water and stuff," he answered loudly.

"Stop shouting at me!" Cat shouted to him.

"You were shouting first!" Robbie retorted.

Cat looked away from him. "I'm sorry," she breathed.

"It's okay," Robbie assured quietly. "I wasn't trying to do anything but make sure you were okay while Beck's gone."

Cat hugged her knees loosely. "Thank you," she thanked quietly. She opened her mouth to say something else when the RV door opened. When Beck saw Cat sitting up, he sped over to her and sat by her on the bed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She shook her head and he handed her a water bottle.

"Well drink this," he advised. "You looked overheated. You know you shouldn't strain yourself so much. How long were you running with those suitcases?"

"I was at Jade's house," she responded after downing half the bottle. "I walked there from my house, but then there was a scary man there and I ran here…"

"What did the scary man do?" Beck asked. "Did you see him?"

Cat shook her head. "He was inside the house," she answered. "But I heard Jade screaming when she closed the door. And…" She looked down. "She lied to him about who I was…and before she closed the door, she told me she was sorry." She looked up at Beck with sad eyes. "But she didn't actually say it. It was like her mouth was making the words but no sounds were coming out."

Beck's face dropped. "Do you know if he hit her?" he questioned with a tensing voice.

Cat shook her head again. "The door was closed when she screamed and I ran away after that."

"Can we talk about why you were running around Hollywood with two big pink suitcases?" Robbie questioned, trying to change the morbid subject.

Cat lowered her head again and started crying loudly. Beck wrapped a protective arm around her to console her and shot a glare to Robbie. Robbie squeaked slightly and pulled down locks of his curly hair to hide his eyes.

For a few minutes, Beck let Cat cry on his shoulder while Robbie stood awkwardly in the corner, trying not to move since everything he did lately upset Cat. When she'd cried all she needed to, she lifted her head, wiped her eyes, and sniffled slightly.

"My mommy threw me out of the house," she finally said. "I went to go see if I could stay with Jade like I used to when my mommy went on business trips, but she said I was someone who she didn't like that 'deserves that little ex-boy of hers.'" She made appropriate air quotes as she spoke. "Then the man who was there said he knew me and that Jade was lying. I came here to tell you that I think…I think Jade's in trouble…"

Beck sighed softly and nodded solemnly. "She is," he told her. "There's something going on in that house, but she won't let anyone know."

"Then why aren't you doing anything?" Cat exclaimed as she jumped off the bed. Beck was the only person Cat knew that could save Jade, and he was just  _sitting by_? From what she saw, Aladdin was a hero; Beck was supposed to be the hero just like Aladdin!

Beck slowly stood up and gently took Cat's hands. "I am," he spoke, "It's just going to take a lot of work. She doesn't want to let anyone know she's in trouble, but I'm working on a way to help her. But first, she has to admit she's in trouble."

"Then make her!" Cat pleaded, tearing her hands away. "The scary man will hurt her babies!"

Beck sighed again, wanting to say more than he could. He wanted to tell Cat everything he knew so she'd have the full story, but he knew it wasn't his story to tell. Instead, he softly pulled Cat into a hug and rubbed her back. "I'm going to handle things as quickly as I can," he told her. "Don't worry yourself about it; you've got enough on your plate as it is…" He pulled away from her slightly to look into her eyes. "In the meantime," he continued, "You know you can stay here as long as you need to."

Cat smiled weakly. "Thank you," she breathed.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Robbie staring awkwardly around the RV as he held his hands behind his back. She giggled slightly and moved over to him. She took his hands from behind his back and looked up at him. "I'm really sorry about how I've been acting lately," she apologized.

Robbie smirked weakly. "It's okay," he responded. "I know you've been stressed out lately…and I haven't been doing much to help."

He expected her to say something else, and was pleasantly surprised when she hugged him tightly instead. Slowly, recovering from the shock, he wrapped his arms around the small of her back and held her there. He rested his cheek on the top of her head and looked to Beck who smiled in accomplishment.

Things were looking up.

 

**Cat: 16 weeks**

**Jade: 22 weeks**


	9. The Light Behind Your Eyes

* * *

_“If I could be with you tonight, I would sing you to sleep. Never let them take the light behind your eyes. We’ll say goodbye today and we’re sorry how it ends this way. One day I’ll lose this fight as we fade in the dark.” – My Chemical Romance_

* * *

For the first few days, Beck and Jade were actually getting away with it; Jade was putting Liam to sleep and going back to school, and her relationship with Beck was starting to rekindle. He gave her back his ring and—while she was at school—she wore it around her neck. When she got home, she quickly stuffed it in her bag so Liam wouldn’t find it.

Granted, putting sleeping pills in Liam’s drinks were ‘illegal.’ But Jade needed out of that house. If she had to wait out seventeen more weeks with only seeing her brother and drunken father’s face, she would go insane and probably shoot herself.

About halfway through the week, Liam began to suspect something was going on. After all, he wouldn’t remember several hours out of his day, and he never drank to the point where he blacked out.

**Thursday morning.**

_“Do you want me to pick you up today?” Beck asked protectively._

“No, that’s okay,” Jade answered. “I need a little time to myself this morning.” She moved to the bathroom and started messing with her hair. Several locks were still wet from where she washed it to get the vomit out. She hadn’t had a lot of morning sickness this far into her pregnancy, but her babies were moving around too much this morning and it caused her stomach to get _very_ upset.

_“I love you.”_

Jade smiled slightly to herself. The mirror smiled back to her, reflecting a beautiful woman with striking blue-green eyes, flawless skin, and seducing lips. If she didn’t know any better, she could have sworn she was looking at her mother…

“I love you, too,” she whispered back before she hung up. She quickly deleted the call from her call log since Liam had a habit of taking her phone when she wasn’t looking and left her phone on the counter. Instead of waiting for her hair to dry, she put her hair up into a messy, wet bun and went back to her room to pick out something to wear.

When she got to her closet, everything she saw disgusted her; Liam had taken the liberty to buy her maternity clothes and none of them were the least bit Jade’s taste. A lot of the clothes were dresses, which she hated, and had disgusting floral patterns that made her want to claw her eyes out. There were a few maternity shirts and pairs of maternity pants, but they were very scarce. Liam was (considerably) a traditionalist and thought it to be ladylike for Jade to wear dresses, at least during her pregnancy since he had a strong say in what she wore.

She started to reach for a royal blue satin dress with white lilacs scrawled onto it when she spotted a long-sleeved black shirt. Her hand quickly snatched it out of her closet and she pulled at it, rejoicing when the shirt stretched.

At least he cared enough to get _one_ thing she wanted.

Jade skimmed through the closet for some blue jeans and tossed them on the bed with her shirt. She was walking back to the bathroom when Liam stopped her.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he asked. He towered over her with annoyed eyes and his arms crossed. His hair was still messed up and sat matted to the left side of his face. Dark brown stubble was growing back and it made Jade itchy just looking at it.

“Bathroom,” Jade retorted curtly.

Liam motioned into Jade’s room with his eyes. “You know that’s not what I meant you little shit,” he spat.

Jade crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to walk around the house looking like crap,” she lied. She actually wouldn’t care if she walked around the house naked—as long as Liam wasn’t there and Beck was, though.

Liam uncrossed his arms and held up the bottle of sleeping pills that Jade had hid under her bed. “Wanna give another answer?” he questioned with a cold grimace.

Jade’s face paled and her eyes widened slightly. She was at a loss for words. She expected Liam might find out, but she hadn’t planned out what she would say just yet.

Liam gripped the pill bottle tightly in his hand and roughly rammed it into Jade’s cheek. She cried out as she fell to the ground and she held her stomach tightly. “I told you not to fucking lie to me,” he screamed. “What the hell have you been doing?”

Pain shot through her stomach and all she could do was scream and writhe on the floor. Her babies were fighters like she was and they were kicking up a storm.

With a deep routed groan, Liam picked Jade up by the arm and proceeded to lift her up until she was in both of his arms, her head buried in his shoulder as she screamed in pain. She could handle the outer beatings from her brother, but the inner beatings were too much to bear.

Wordlessly, Liam carried Jade out to his Newport, shifted her in his arms so he could open the car door, and gently set her down in the front seat. He roughly moved her arms from her stomach so he could buckle her in and slammed the door shut. Had he not served in the military and worked out regularly, he would not have been able to carry Jade in her lengthy pregnant state.

* * *

**_Just remember you will always burn as bright_ **

* * *

While Jade screamed loudly in the front seat, Liam wordlessly drove her to the hospital. He gripped the steering wheel tightly out of anger, pissed at himself for letting his little shit of a sister get to him again. Most of all, he was furious at how she wouldn’t learn how damn lesson. She knew never to talk back to him and to never, _ever_ lie to him. And now she was sneaking away after putting him to sleep? She’s lucky she has those babies, otherwise he would probably kill her.

Once at the hospital, Liam carried Jade to the reception desk, explained an abridge version of what happened, and a nurse quickly brought out a wheel chair to take Jade to ER. He sat in the waiting room for what seemed like forever, even though it was only thirty minutes when he broke down and checked his watch. And instead of his sister coming out, a sharply dressed doctor with thinning black hair and tired facial features came out to address the West boy.

“Are you the brother of Miss West?” he asked. His voice was cracked and choppy, like he’d been smoking for years. He looked like he was about to drop dead at any minute; he was just the doctor Jade deserved.

“Yes, sir,” Liam retorted. “How are the babies?”

The doctor nodded with a slightly amused expression. “They’re fine,” he assured Liam, “As well as your sister. But I’m afraid there is a complication.”

Worry jolted through Liam, but he refused to let it show. Instead, he crossed his arms. “Are the children going to be okay?” He carried a flat tone, with no hint of worry for the mother of his children.

“We can’t be entire sure just yet,” the doctor answered honestly. His voice bottomed out on the last word. “As you’re fully aware, your sister is carrying twins. However, her body isn’t equipped to carry both children. Think of it as trying to fit two large stuffed animals inside a medium box; something is going to have to give so that the three can exist in one place. In Miss West’s case, her body has to give in order to sustain the children. She’ll be experience a greater deal of pain than most normal pregnancies because the babies are pressed against her spine, as well as vital organs.”

“So will she be able to have them?” Liam questioned, standing tall.

The doctor nodded sharply. “Your sister will be able to come to term,” he began, “But she needs to be very careful. Too much movement, too much stress, and too much strain could all result in—worst case scenario—death for all three of them.”

Liam nodded solemnly and his eyes drop. “I’ll be sure to keep her okay.”

The doctor looked down at the clipboard he kept in his liver-spot covered hands. “We noticed that Miss West has bruises in various places on her body, most notably her arms and face.” He looked up at Liam with a raised brow. “Do you happen to know anything about this?”

Liam shrugged. “She’s clumsy I guess,” he lied.

The doctor scowled. “Follow me,” he instructed. “You can take your sister home now, but please remember to make sure she doesn’t put any pressure on herself.”

“Yes sir,” Liam responded as he followed the doctor out to the recovery room where Jade was resting.

* * *

**_Just remember you will always burn as bright_ **

* * *

Jade didn’t speak on the way home, mainly because she’d been drugged so she could rest. When he pulled up to the house, Liam begrudgingly helped her inside and put her in her bed. She slept soundly for a few hours and groaned loudly as she awoke. Slowly she opened her eyes, but the fear of Liam being near jolted her fully awake. She shot up in her bed and looked around for him, letting out a sigh of relief when he wasn’t near.

Then she realized she’d unwillingly skipped school again.

Jade reached over to her night stand to find her phone, coming up to an empty and smooth surface. She mentally swore at herself, remembering that she left her phone in the bathroom, something she never did.

Slowly, she climbed off the bed to keep it from squeaking and tiptoed to the bathroom. She heard the TV on downstairs, so she hoped Liam wouldn’t hear her if she tripped or anything. She gently gripped the bathroom door’s handle and gingerly turned it. She pushed the door open as fast as she could, gripping the side of the door so it didn’t hit the wall, since the door squeaked loudly when you opened it the normal way. She peered inside the bathroom and spotted her phone on the counter. She started to make her way inside to retrieve it when Liam roughly grabbed her arm. Her blood chilled and her muscles tensed.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he spat.

Jade breathed in deeply for a moment and let out the air before turning back to him. “I was just getting my phone,” she answered honestly.

With hard eyes, Liam opened his mouth to say something else when the doorbell rang.

“Someone’s at the door,” Jade whispered hurriedly.

Liam scowled. “I’m not deaf,” he spat. He let go of her arm. “Stay up here and go back to bed; I’ll deal with you later.”

With that, he turned around and went down the stairs while Jade quickly retrieved her phone, closed the bathroom door, and darted back to her room. She listened from her doorway just as Liam reached the front door.

“…looking for a ‘Jade West,’” a male’s voice announced. “Does she live here?”

“Yes sir,” Liam retorted. “She’s asleep right now, though.”

“If you don’t mind,” the man began, “I’d like to wake her up and have a few words with her.”

“May I ask what this is about, officer?” Liam questioned. From the distance, Jade could hear the faint frustration in his voice that no one else would really notice.

“We received a phone call from the local hospital wanting us to look into Jade’s safety,” the officer replied. “May I ask your relationship to Miss West?”

“I’m her brother,” he retorted sharply.

“May I come in and speak with your sister?”

Uh oh. Liam couldn’t say no; if he did, that would raise even more suspicion and things could get ugly. But this wasn’t the best place to talk! Liam would be listening to the officer’s conversation with Jade, and Jade would be forced to lie!

When the front door closed, Jade rushed back into her room and fell onto her bed, quickly laying on her side and pulling the covers up to her chin. She put her phone in her bra and closed her eyes, pretending to be naturally asleep.

The officer knocked on Jade’s doorframe and her eyes fluttered open. He was a tall man with a lean build, smooth tan skin, short black hair, bright brown eyes, and a very large and thick black mustache. And Liam was right behind him.

“Jade West?” he called.

She sat up and nodded, allowing him to move into the room. He turned back when Liam started to enter as well and began to close the door. “I need to speak with her in private,” the officer told him. He closed the door before Liam could think of saying anything.

The officer turned back to Jade with a weak smile and crossed the room before sitting on her bed. “I’m Officer Meringues,” he announced in a quiet voice. “I was told by a concerned doctor at the hospital that you may be a victim of abuse.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jade lied as she nodded her head with pleading eyes. “My brother loves me.”

Officer Meringues pursed his lips. “Does your father live here?” he questioned, not letting it show in his voice that he understood what she was saying.

“He’s hardly ever here,” Jade answered honestly. “He works a lot.”

“When he is home,” Meringues began, “Does he ever lash out at you violently, as in verbally or physically?”

Only when he’s drunk. “No, sir.”

“Where is your mother?”

“She passed away recently.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he replied solemnly. He looked down at her stomach bulging through her night shirt. “The doctor was also concerned about the safety of your children,” he announced. “Your body is very sensitive and fragile due to the fact that you’re pregnant. You understand that right?”

Jade nodded slightly.

“Make sure that you stay healthy,” he advised as he pulled out a pen and paper from his back pocket. “Stay out of trouble and don’t get hurt.” He wrote while he spoke to cover up the sound of his scribbling. Then he gave Jade the piece of paper and spoke to her about police protocol while she read.

**_If your brother continues to hurt you, call me at the number below. Don’t hesitate. This is a very delicate situation you’re in and you need to get out as soon as possible._ **

Jade looked up at the officer with thankful eyes and hid the paper in her pillow case.

Officer Meringues stood up. “Thank you for your cooperation, Miss West,” he thanked. “Everything seems fine, but you’ll let the police know otherwise, correct?”

Jade nodded again. “Yes officer.”

Officer Meringues tipped an imaginary hat. “Try and get some more rest,” he suggested as he headed for her door. He tipped an imaginary hat to Liam who stood waiting by the door on the outside. “Take care.”

Liam nodded and followed the officer downstairs, escorting him out as politely as he could. But instead of going back and finishing what happened earlier, Liam let Jade pretend to rest. He was suspicious that the officer had said something to Jade, and he had a deeper suspicion she would say something to the authorities since the idea was fresh on her mind.

No matter what, though, he would keep Jade in line.

* * *

**_Just remember you will always burn as bright_ **

* * *

**The following Thursday.**

Jade noticed that the number of clothes in her closet was slowly dwindling; and when she woke up that morning, there was nothing in her closet at all. She did, however, find a note on the bedside table.

You’ll wear what I give you to wear.

With a loud, angry sigh, Jade crumbled up the note and threw it in her empty closet. She was _really_ getting tired of his shit. She was getting extremely close to her breaking point right now, and her pregnancy hormones were making her want to _chew_ his skin off at this point. But she had to look out for her babies, so she was pretty much stuck.

Jade climbed out of bed and made her way to her scumbag brother’s room. She banged on his door loudly. “Liam,” she called. “Can you give me some clothes?”

“Ask me nicely and I’ll think about it,” Liam spat through the wood.

Jade pinched the bridge of her nose and inhaled sharply. “Can you give me some clothes, _please_?”

Silence followed as Jade waited for Liam to open the door. The lock clamored loudly as he turned it, and the door opened to reveal him in nothing but his boxers. If Jade weren’t so utterly repulsed by him (and his _sister_ ) she would probably find his extremely chiseled body…attractive.

His deep-rooted scowl, though, wasn’t attractive.

In his hand, he held one of his biggest T-shirts and a pair of Jade’s leggings. “You can wear this,” he told her, “But you’re not leaving this house. Got it?”

Jade lowered her eyes and mumbled a ‘yeah.’ Then Liam tossed the clothes at her and slammed the door, leaving Jade out in the hall. Rolling her eyes, she went to the bathroom to change. Once she’d gotten rid of her long night shirt and put on the new clothes, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her face and neck were covered in yellowing bruises, and the one Liam gave her last week after smacking her with the pill bottle was already turning into a dingy grey bruise. Her eyes were tired and losing life, her skin paler than normal. Her lips were slightly cracked, but they were recovering from a worse state. Her hair had uneven colors, with black and pink and blue streaming halfway down her head while light brown sprouted from the roots and stopped at the tip of her ears. Liam read somewhere that it was bad for pregnant women to inhale dye fumes, so he took away whatever money Jade had so she wouldn’t go to the salon or try to dye it herself.

With a near defeated sigh, she ran her fingers through her wild hair and put it up in a messy bun that sat atop her head. She hated that look on girls, especially herself, but she was too tired to care anymore about how her hair looked.

The sound of her alarm going off shocked Jade slightly and she went back to her room. When she picked up her phone, she saw that it was reminding her to remind Liam that she had an ultrasound tomorrow. She groaned as she put her phone in her bra and made her way back to Liam’s room.

“Liam, open the door,” Jade demanded in a repressed tone. She couldn’t sound too demanding or he’d get pissed again.

“What do you want?” Liam griped from behind the door.

“To remind you of my ultrasound tomorrow,” she announced. “And can I have some socks or something? My feet hurt and they’re _cold_.”

Liam growled in annoyance and ripped the door open before throwing a pair of fuzzy white socks at his sister. There was a knock at the door and Liam grimaced. “Go answer that,” he ordered, “And don’t try anything stupid.”

Jade rolled her eyes and turned away from him. As soon as she did, he slammed the door behind her which startled her slightly. She waited until she got to the bottom of the stairs to put her socks on. When she opened the door, she saw a tear stained Cat looking at her with deep-rooted sadness scrawled over her face.

Jade’s eyes widened and her breath hitched when she saw the two large, pink suitcases that Cat had dragged along. “What are you doing here?” she asked in a hush whisper. She couldn’t let Liam hear her fear. “What did I tell you about surprise sleepovers?” That was a stupid question; she should have just told Cat to go away right then, to hurry and get her friend out of the line of fire.

"I to-told my mommy," she sobbed out. "She got mad and told me I couldn't stay at home anymore."

Jade gasped and opened her mouth to say something. That was one of her biggest fears after her mother died: something bad would happen and Cat would have to live with her and her brother. She didn’t think Cat would be pregnant when it happened…

Instead of saying something to her petite friend, another voice came from inside the house.

“Who’s at the door?” Liam’sdeep voice called out.

Jade physically stiffened and her eyes grew wide with fear. She stalled too long and now he was getting suspicious since he couldn’t hear what was going on. "It's that girl I told you I don't like," she lied in mock anger. If she made him believe it was Tori, she could probably save Cat.

"The one that deserves that pretty little ex-boy of yours?" he spat. Cat couldn’t, but Jade heard his dark laughter float down the stairs.

Jade grimaced and gripped the side of the door tightly. "Yeah," she called back through grit teeth, " _Her_."

She turned back to Cat, preparing to say what she never wanted to say to the little redhead. "Get the hell out of here!" she screamed. "I told you I hate you time and time again, so stop trying to be nice to me you stupid cunt!"

Cat gasped and Jade's face softened. She mouthed 'I'm sorry' to her petite friend before slamming the door in Cat's face. Jade snapped around when she heard Liam bounding down the stairs.

"I know you're lying," he accused.

"No I'm not," Jade quietly replied, looking at her fuzzy white socks.

"I know that was your little friend, Cat," he stated a little louder. He sounded angry. Jade flinched at the loudness of his voice, trying not to show her terror. Apparently she wasn’t as good of an actress than she thought.

Jade started to say something, but then Liam punched her in her left eye. She screamed loudly as she fell back against the wall. In an instant, Liam was on her, his hands wrapping tightly around Jade’s throat.

“I told you to never fucking lie to me,” he snarled. He began to shake her against the wall, banging the back of her head against it roughly.

“Liam!” Jade choked out. “Can’t…breathe…”

In a fit of anger, he threw her onto the couch. Jade bounced slightly as she gasped for air, but he was back on her in seconds. He ripped at her leggings and tore them easily. Though she protested and tried to pull his hands away, Liam managed to get her panties off. Jade’s legs thrashed wildly as she tried to get Liam away from her, but he over powered her.

His pants quickly wound up at his ankles and he thrust himself inside of her roughly. He put his hands on her hips and she gripped his forearms roughly as she screamed in pain. He continued to tear into her for what felt like hours and she felt like he was splitting her in two. Eventually, he brought down one of his massive hands on her mouth to keep her quiet. As he grew closer to his climax, he began to let up on her and she didn’t scream as much. And when he finally unloaded himself into her, he pushed himself off her, putting a great deal of painful force onto her hips.

When Liam started to push himself off what remained of his sister, her children began to kick around inside her. She writhed in pain and screamed while Liam just watched her after he’d fixed his pants.

“Fucking slut,” he murmured as he ascended the stairs. Jade was screaming so loudly that she didn’t hear him slam his bedroom door.

It was bad enough that her brother tortured her, but now his bastard children were doing the same. But this was her fault. This was her fault for being the cause of her mother’s death; this was her fault for lying to Liam; this was her fault for being a stupid slut; this was her fault for having a frame too small to carry twins.

When the babies finally settled down, Jade rolled onto her side on the couch. Tears fell from her eyes, but she refused to make a sound. Her throat was starting to hurt.

She couldn’t do this. This was too much for her to handle. She was sick of walking on eggshells around her hot-tempered brother. She was sick of him hitting and violating her. She was sick of being in pain.

Slowly, Jade pulled herself off the couch. Her legs shook slightly, but she ignored it. Gripping onto everything she could for support, she made her way to the staircase and staggered up to her room. She gingerly closed her door and limped to her bed. It was like a thousand knives cutting below her abdomen as she tried to walk, but she needed to get out of this God awful place.

She placed her hand on her back for support and lowered herself to the floor. At the head of her bed, hidden behind a crumbled mess of bed sheets, there was a box. And inside the box were some of Jade’s maternity clothes. When she noticed Liam was starting to diminish her wardrobe, she took it upon herself to keep a set of clothes just in case she needed them.

She pulled out the sleeveless, black blouse, black stretched jeans, and new underwear. She wasted no time in getting up and changed as quickly as she could. She grabbed her phone and put it in her pocket. She spotted in her barren closet that Liam had either left or forgot a pair of white flats. Jade moved to her closet and grabbed them with her feet, picking them up that way so she wouldn’t have to bend over again. She held the flats in her left hand as she tried to move out of her room as quietly as possible.

Now came the hard part.

With a shaking hand, Jade reached out to Liam’s doorknob and turned it slightly, rejoicing silently to herself when she found it unlocked. She pushed the door open and tiptoed into the lion’s den. To her left, she could hear her brother’s loud snores. She didn’t dare sneak a glance at him.

Instead, she moved to his dresser. She needed to find her car keys. The last time she looked into his room, they were on his dresser, so she hoped they were still there. She found a jumble of things from hair care products to hygiene products to random scraps of paper. And under a Chinese takeout menu, she spotted something silver glistening in the light. She lifted the menu and found Liam’s keys looking back at her, mocking her. Jade grimaced. She knew she wouldn’t have time to look for her keys, but she didn’t want to drive his stupid car.

But it was ‘take it or leave it’ at this point.

Carefully, she picked up Liam’s keys with both hands so they wouldn’t make a sound. She turned on the heels of her fuzzy socks and began to creep out of his room. As soon as she got to the doorway, however, the snoring stopped. Jade froze and held her breath, clenching her eyes shut tightly as she waited for the worst. She knew he’d kill her if he woke up.

She heard a shift on the bed, sheets rustling, and fear-induced sweat started to form on her forehead. But instead of him yelling at her or tackling her, he continued to snore. Jade turned to see Liam lying on his stomach, arms and legs sprawled out over messy sheets and she quietly exhaled in relief. She then proceeded to exit the room and cautiously closed the door.

Then she darted down the stairs as quickly and quietly as she could, putting her flats on when she reached the bottom of the stairs. She wasted no time in getting outside the house, and she left the door open, uncaring if anyone were to happen to walk in and try to steal anything…

She got into Liam’s car and put it in reverse, guiding it as she backed out of the driveway and backwards down the street. Once she was two houses away, Jade started up Liam’s monstrous Newport and drove off.

* * *

**_Just remember you will always burn as bright_ **

* * *

Jade drove to Beck’s place first. She figured that’s where Cat was going, so she could kill two birds with one stone, for better lack of metaphor.

As soon as she cut the engine, Beck appeared in the doorway of his RV.

“Is everything okay?” he asked as Jade climbed out of the Newport. “Who’s car is that?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she retorted as she speed-walked up to him. “Go back inside and pack your things. We have to go.”

“Why?” Beck asked calmly. He placed his hands on Jade’s shoulders before she could enter the RV.

Jade looked up to him with tired, pained eyes. “My problem got a lot worse,” she announced. That’s what she referred to Liam as when she talked to Beck. “I need to get out of there, so I’m running away.” Her gaze hardened.

“You and Cat are coming with me.”


	10. Give Me a Sign

* * *

_“Daylight dies; blackout the sky. Does anyone care? Is anybody there? Take this life, empty inside. I'm already dead; I'll rise to fall again” – Breaking Benjamin_

* * *

Robbie held Cat tightly, breathing in her strawberry shampoo as he rested his cheek on the top of her head. She was warm, and he loved that. As he stood there holding her, he felt like he had a purpose; he was made to keep her safe. And whether she wanted to or not, he was going to try his damnedest to protect her from people like Danny. If he had any say, he would never leave her.

Likewise, Cat loved the safety she felt as she stood in Robbie’s arms. She smiled contently as she closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest. When she was little, she remembered that there used to be a man that would hold her on his lap, holding her just like Robbie was doing now. That man kept her warm and safe, and the real world was only a dream. Whether or not that man was her father or brother, she didn’t care.

Now she had Robbie.

If she could have, she would have let him hold her until the world ended. But her stomach began to turn. Her energy still felt drained.

“Robbie,” she breathed reluctantly.

“Yeah?” he replied just as softly.

“I’m tired,” she sighed out. She forced an eye opened and looked to Beck who sat on the floor with his legs outstretched, crossed at the ankles, doing some French homework. “Can we take a nap on your bed, Beck?”

He looked up at her with a small smile. “Sure,” he answered. Then he went back to his homework, forming conjugations in his head.

With a deep, reluctant sigh, Cat pulled away from Robbie. She grabbed his hands though and looked up at him with a wide grin. “Do you want to take a nap with me?” she asked.

Robbie laughed slightly and nodded. Then Cat led him to Beck’s bed, crawling onto it first. She held one of his hands as she settled herself, and when she was lying on her side looking at Robbie with those innocent eyes, he almost lost control. At that moment, she looked like a goddess: her hair spilled over the pillow with strands resting on her cheeks, her skin was radiant and glowing, and her eyes were filled with innocence and such intensity. If he didn’t restrain himself, he probably would have crashed down on her and taken her right then and there, regardless of Beck or the baby.

But he knew better.

So he descended onto the bed and rested on his side in front of his goddess. Cat took the hand that she held and put it around her back where it would rest lazily. She scooted closer to Robbie, until her head and stomach were touching him, and closed her eyes.

“Thank you for being here, Robbie,” she thanked in a voice barely above a whisper.

Robbie smiled as he closed his eyes. “I’d do anything for you,” he whispered.

Cat giggled lightly and, with her last bit of strength, brought her hand to his face. She took off his glasses and placed them on the pillow beside his face before returning her hand to his cheek.

It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep in her arms.

* * *

**_I can feel you falling away_**

* * *

“Cat, wake up!” Jade shouted. The little redhead squealed as Jade’s voice startled her awake. Her scream woke Robbie up and he fell off the bed with a terrified noise. Both Cat and Robbie looked up at Jade who was being held outside of the RV with Beck’s hands on her shoulders.

“What’s going on?” Cat asked tiredly.  Her words were still slurred from sleep and her eyes were fighting to stay open.

Jade pushed past Beck and entered the RV. “Get up,” she demanded as she moved for Cat’s suitcases. “We gotta go.”

Beck rushed over to Jade and gently grabbed her wrists. “Hold on,” he pleaded. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“There’s no time!” Jade snapped, her hair flying around wildly. “We have to go!”

“But I don’t wanna go,” Cat cried as Robbie helped her stand up. “I wanna stay here.”

“Well you can’t,” Jade snarled. “Something bad is going to happen if we don’t leave right now.” She yanked her wrist free from Beck and pulled Cat’s suitcases.

“Jade, come on,” Beck urged as he followed her out of the RV. “What’s going to happen?”

“I _told_ you,” Jade seethed as she turned around. “My problem got worse. And this is the first place that problem’s gonna come looking for me. You and Cat aren’t safe because of me; you two need to find somewhere else to hide until I find a way to handle this.”

“No,” Beck retorted monotonously.

Jade blinked in confusion. “ _Excuse_ me?”

“I said no,” he repeated, crossing his arms. “I’m tired of letting you try to deal with this on your own, and I’m not gonna let you do this on your own.”

“I don’t want you and Cat to come with me,” Jade confessed quietly. She looked at her bulbous stomach. “I don’t want either of you to get hurt because of me.”

Beck gently grabbed her shoulders and she looked up at him. He stared deep into her eyes. “I love you Jade,” he stated adamantly. “I’m not going to let you go off on your own, running from your problems. If you really feel like you need to leave, I’ll go with you; I’d go to the ends of the world and back with you. Cat’s going to come with us because I can’t leave her here and we’re going to make this work.”

Jade looked away from him with a scowl. “Just go pack your stupid bags.”

* * *

**_I can feel you falling away_ **

* * *

“What are they talking about?” Cat whispered to Robbie. He stood with his arm around her waist and she stood with her chest pressed against his, one of her hands resting on his chest.

“I can’t tell,” he whispered back. “But I think Beck just told her he loved her.”

Cat gasped happily and let out a small “aw.” Then she looked up at Robbie. “I think I heard her say she was running away earlier,” she confessed with sad eyes. “I don’t want to run again.”

Robbie kissed the top of Cat’s forehead. “You don’t have to,” he suggested. “You could stay with me while they work out whatever they need to work out…”

Cat gasped again, but sighed. “I don’t know,” she breathed. “I like you a lot, Robbie, but I don’t know if I could live with you right now…”

Robbie sighed dejectedly. “I understand,” he told her in all honesty. “I just…with everything that’s going on with Beck and Jade, I don’t want you to stress yourself out. And there’s something really big going on with Jade; she said it was something that might hurt you and Beck. I can’t sit back and let that happen.”

Cat hummed sadly, pressing the side of her head against Robbie’s shirt. She stood by what she said; it would be awkward for her to stay with Robbie, especially seeing how they both had attractions for each other. And then what would happen when she had her baby? It would be extremely different living with Robbie than it would be living with Beck and that scared her; Beck was like a brother and would do anything for Cat and her little angel. Plus, he wouldn’t want to eventually get in her pants. Beck was also more level headed, whereas Robbie could barely deal with a back-talking puppet that _he_ controlled!

But Robbie _did_ have a point…

“Come on, Cat!” Jade screamed from outside, further halting any other thoughts on the matter. “We’re leaving now!”

Robbie reflexively held her a little tighter and she looked up with pleading eyes. “I want to stay with you,” she whispered.

“You don’t have to go,” he whispered back.

“ _Cat_ ,” Jade screeched. Her head emerged in the doorway as she stepped up into the RV, Beck right behind her. “I said we’re leaving. Let go of Robbie and let’s go!”

“I don’t want to,” Cat muttered slightly, looking at Beck’s beige carpeting.

Jade crossed her arms. “ _Excuse_ me?” she spat. “Where do you think you’re gonna go, huh? Are you gonna live with Danny? Because I doubt that little shit will want you around.” Tears began to form in Cat’s eyes, but Jade rambled on; she didn’t know that Cat and Danny broke up. She glared at Robbie. “Do you think you can stay with _Robbie_?” she hissed. “How do you think that’s gonna work out, Cat? Who knows if your mom will let you back in your house, so how long do you think you’ll stay with him?”

She stormed over to a quietly crying Cat and roughly grabbed her arm, yanking her away from Robbie. “You need to come with me and Beck for your own good,” she stated.

Cat snatched her arm back from her friend. “No!” she exclaimed through her tears. “I don’t want to! I don’t want to run from the scary man…”

Jade grimaced with dark eyes. “You think you can hide?” she asked lowly. Her voice struck ominous fear into Cat. “Like it or not, you need to run. You’re important to me and he knows that; he’ll go after you to get to me.”

Cat stepped backward and sheepishly grabbed Robbie’s hand. “Then Robbie has to come too!” she cried. “He’s important to me.” The little redhead had caught on quickly to what Jade was getting at and was using it against her…

“There’s no time for that,” Jade spat as her hand shot out to Cat’s arm. “You’re wasting time when we could be halfway to San Francisco by now!”

“ _Jade_.”

Beck’s piercing voice broke through the air. Jade froze, the hairs on her neck standing up. Goosebumps started to form on her skin beneath her shirt and she could feel her bruises pulsating all over her body. Her breath hitched and she clenched her eyes shut, preparing for the cold blow of rough hands against her face.

“Jade,” Beck called again, this time softer. “Jade, please look at me.” She still didn’t open her eyes; Liam had tricked her like that once—with those same exact words—and she went to school with a busted lip the next day.

She began to feel lightheaded, but she still didn’t open her eyes. For some reason, it always hurt worse when she breathed.

Cat stood clinging to Robbie, holding one of his hands against his chest while he kept a protective arm around her, watching her friend with worried and confused eyes. Was this what the scary man did? Did he scream at her to get her attention? Did he try to reason with her before he hit her? Jade had never looked so terrified before, and it made Cat want to cry. She wanted to cry because she couldn’t help her friend; she wanted to cry because Jade had obviously been in a horrible situation for a while, but Cat had been oblivious and wrapped in her own life; and most of all, she wanted to cry because she was thankful she wasn’t going through what Jade had on her plate. She knew she was nowhere near as strong as Jade, especially with one more baby to support…

Beck reached out to Jade, but stopped before he touched her. “Jade,” he called again. “I’m not going to hurt you; you know that…”

Cat could see on Jade’s face that no words had registered, that she was still terrified beyond belief.

Then, Beck’s fingers grazed her arm.

Jade gasped wildly, her terrified eyes shooting open. Her breathing became loud and shallow, which only made Beck touch her more. He fully, but gently, grabbed her arms to sustain her. “Jade!” he pleaded over her loud breathing. “Jade come on!”

Cat began to whimper in fear and Robbie held her a little closer without hurting the baby. When Jade was younger, she used to have panic attacks because her father locked her in a closet once while they were the only two at home. She’d been stuck in there for three days without any food or water and when her mother found her, Jade refused to speak for two days. After that, she would freak out if she felt like she was in a situation that boxed her in. She got over it when she was thirteen, a year before she met Beck, so Beck had no idea what was going on.

Jade staggered backward, but Beck held her up as her legs buckled. Cat pushed away from Robbie and clamped her hands down on Beck’s. “Let go of her!” she screamed. “You’re scaring her!”

Beck started to grip Jade’s arm tighter, a reflex from Cat’s thick nails digging into his skin. “I’m trying to help!” he claimed.

Jade began to let out small, shrill noises as she gasped for air and a tear formed in her wild eyes that seemed to stare at nothing.

“You’re only making it worse!” Cat shouted protectively.

Beck started to say something else, but Jade collapsed in his grip and he focused all his energy on catching her. Cat cried out in fear, but Beck held onto her tightly.

* * *

**_I can feel you falling away_ **

* * *

“She’s going to be okay,” Robbie assured Cat who was crying in his arms. She pressed her body as close to his as physically possible, subconsciously cradling her baby between them. They sat on Beck’s bed, their backs pressed against the wall, while Beck sat with Jade on his small couch. She had been unconscious for at least five minutes. Beck knew how to deal with people who had fainted from a panic attack, and it didn’t seem serious enough for Jade to require hospitalization. When she fainted, her breathing had returned to normal and all fear had escaped from her face; she looked normal, but Cat was still worried.

She thought Jade was past this…

“Don’t cry, Cat,” Robbie breathed as he gently rubbed her back. “Jade’s okay.”

“I was just trying to help,” Beck mumbled absentmindedly as he stared down at his sleeping, troubled girlfriend. In her sleep, she looked like an angel; nothing seemed to bother her and her skin even glowed a little. She looked…peaceful.

“No one asked you,” Cat snapped, shooting away from Robbie. As fast as she could, she jumped over to Beck and began hitting him on his shoulder and his back. “No one asked you to help! If you would have left her alone she would be fine!”

Beck turned to Cat to shield her frantic blows while Robbie continued to sit on the bed, watching as if they were behind the glass at an aquarium. “Cat, stop,” Beck pleaded as he tried to grab for her hands. “Cat—”

Jade’s startled gasp broke through, causing Beck and Cat to freeze, as she shot up into a sitting position. Beck and Cat remained as they were as they watched Jade look around with frantic eyes, surveying her surroundings for danger. When she found nothing wrong, she settled her hysteric breathing and looked to her friend and boyfriend.

“What the hell are you two doing?” she questioned as she moved off the couch. “Come on, we gotta go.”

“Jade, maybe you should relax for a little bit,” Beck suggested as he let go of Cat’s tiny hands. “You just fainted; you shouldn’t be moving around so much.”

Jade snapped back to him with a dark glare. “I’m fine,” she hissed. “Now let’s go!” She turned to Robbie. “Get up, because you’re coming too.”

Without a word, Robbie climbed off the bed and moved to Cat. She closed the distance and wrapped her arms around his stomach, clinging to his side. Her hair fell around her face, forming a little veil from her scary best friend.

Jade opened her mouth to say something when she heard a loud banging at Beck’s RV door. Cat squeaked and Jade’s body tensed. She quickly placed her hand over Cat’s mouth and held a finger to her own lips to tell her friend to be quiet.

 _“I know you’re in there, Jade,”_ Liam taunted. “ _Open the fucking door and I’ll_ think _about going easy on you_.”

Beck shot to his feet, fists clenched. Jade, upon hearing her boyfriend rustle, turned to him and slapped her hand against his chest. “ _Don’t_ ,” she mouthed with pleading eyes. She hoped that if Liam didn’t hear anything, he’d go away. She prayed he didn’t hear Cat’s squeal.

Liam banged roughly against the door. “ _Don’t try and hide from me, Jade_ ,” Liam shouted. “ _My car is in the fucking driveway._ ” He continued to beat against the door and Cat began to tremble in Robbie’s arms. Protectively, he pulled her farther back into the RV until they stood against the farthest wall from the door.

When Liam finally kicked the door open, Cat screamed.

She wasn’t sure if Jade screamed, but she saw Jade’s fingers clasp around Beck’s arm. He moved in front of her as Liam’s head appeared at the top of the stairs. Once he stepped inside the RV, it seemed as though this monstrous man was almost too tall to fit inside it. He eyed the four teenagers with a disdainful smirk. Cat gasped as she took in the full sight of his face, how he looked eerily similar to her best friend, how their eyes were the same blue-green shade, and how his shaggy hair was the same as Jade’s used to be.

“I see you started the party without me,” he sneered.

“Get out of here,” Beck demanded through clenched teeth.

Liam eyed the younger boy and laughed. “Or _what_?” he challenged. “You _really_ don’t want to pick a fight with me, pipsqueak. Just stand aside and let me have my whore of a sister and no one will get hurt.”

Cat’s muscles tensed. She knew he was lying; she knew Jade would get hurt. Even worse, she knew he was lying to Beck and would probably hurt him as well as everyone else. But…now the scary man had a new identity… He wasn’t…he didn’t have a name…but he…he was Jade’s _brother._

“How could you do that to her?” Cat screamed to Jade’s towering brother. About a week ago, she had put two and two together, realizing that he was the father of her children. “How could you hurt her like that and violate her? She’s your sister!” She jumped slightly, but Robbie held her back.

Liam eyed Cat with angered confusion for a brief moment before looking back to Jade. “So you’re telling lies to your little whore friends, Jade?” he accused. He turned to Cat. “What else did she say to you, huh?” He stepped closer. “Did she tell you that I hit her, that those bruises are from me?”

Robbie stood in front of Cat and held his arms out slightly to block her. “You stay away from her,” he spat, “And stay away from Jade.”

Liam tossed his head back and laughed scornfully. “And who the hell are you?” he snarled, glaring menacingly at Robbie. “You’re scrawnier than that little shit over there; am I supposed to be _scared_ of you? Are you this little slut’s boyfriend? Did you get her pregnant? I bet she loved it when you stuck it in her; I bet you did it every night. She’s a whore just like Jade.”

“You shut up!” Robbie shouted. “You have no right to say that about either of them!”

“I have all the right in the fucking world!” Liam declared as he stepped closer. “She’s _my_ goddamn sister, _my_ goddamn responsibility. I _own_ her and she deserves whatever happens to her.”

“ _Shut the fuck up, you worthless piece of shit_!” Beck screamed.

Cat covered her mouth, muffling a body-shaking gasp. She had never seen Beck so angry, never heard him swear. And there he was, using _two_ swear words. His body was physically trembling with anger and she saw his muscles tense under Jade’s frightened fingers.

Liam looked to Beck with shocked eyes. Surely this scrawny excuse for a boy wasn’t talking to _him_. “What did you say?” he questioned lowly.

“You heard me,” Beck retorted in an equally low, assertive tone.

Before anyone could react, Liam had crossed the distance to Beck and socked him in the jaw. Jade scream as Beck fell back onto the couch, unconscious, and she backed away. Liam raised his fist, preparing to strike his mortified sister.

Cat, terrified for her best friend, dashed away from behind Robbie and stood in front of Jade, holding her arms out at their full length to shield her. “Don’t hurt her!” she pleaded in her small voice.

Liam stopped and dropped his fist. He visibly eyed her up and down, taking in her full body. Her long red hair was almost at her elbows—a length she hadn’t had since she was ten—since she hadn’t bothered to put it up like she normally did, and her chocolate eyes were filled with innocence. The curves of her body…her supple chest that was starting to grow larger because of her pregnancy, and her filling hips…as well as her baby bump suggested otherwise. The petite girl in front of her looked like an angel or rather, a whore in angelic skin.

And if she wanted to stand up for a whore, he would damn sure treat her like one as well.

Liam’s lips twitched into a devious smirk. “Well maybe,” he began darkly, “I’ll just have to give you her punishment.” With lightning fast reflexes, Robbie ran over to Liam and shoved him with all his might just as Liam raised his fist again.

The taller man staggered to the right slightly. At first, he looked at the floor, trying to process what had just happened. His lips started to fall into a deep-set scowl as his hands began to clench into tight fists. His arms began to shake slightly and he began to bounce his right leg, as if signaling his readiness to strike. Cat and Jade stared in horrified awe as they waited for something to happen. The tension was blinding, placing a pressure on both girls that threatened to crush them if someone didn’t move.

And on cue, Liam made his move.

At first, he back handed Robbie, screaming about how he was a little shit. When Robbie tried fighting back, Liam got angrier and shoved him. Robbie, however, refused to back down. He kept coming at Liam trying to throw unsuccessful punches at him. Finally, Liam let out an animalistic roar and punched Robbie dead in the face. His glasses flew a few feet from him and he tumbled down, knocking his head against Beck’s bed post.

Cat screamed out his name and Liam turned back to the little redhead. “Now where was I?” he questioned. His hand shot out to her arm, grabbing it roughly, and she screamed out in pain.

The apparent danger her best friend was in snapped Jade out of her frightened stupor and she moved around Cat to grab Liam’s arm. “Please!” she cried. “I’m sorry for running away and taking your car.” Tears began to fall from her reddening eyes as she looked up at the demon that shared her face. “I’ll do whatever you want,” she offered. “Please just leave them alone.”

Liam looked down at her with pursed lips and a raised brow, debating on her proposal. He knew beating her and screwing her wouldn’t get to her head; he needed something that would make her regret being alive, something he’d never done before.

And then it hit him.

He released Cat and his hand latched onto Jade’s arm, pulling it up and popping bones. “You have to do whatever I say,” he reminded her. “And if you so much as slip up for a minute, I’ll kill you and your little slut friend.” He made eye contact with the petrified redhead to show her he wasn’t bluffing.

Jade lowered her head in defeat. “I’ll do whatever you want me to,” she told him reluctantly. And with that, he dragged her out of Beck’s RV and threw her into his car. Apparently, he’d walked or found some other method of transportation.

When Liam had started the car and pulled out of Beck’s parent’s driveway with her best friend, Cat ran over to Robbie. He lay on the beige carpet beside Beck’s bed, barely breathing. A small stream of red began to stain the carpet and Robbie didn’t seem to be moving.

Cat snapped her head to Beck who started to shift on the couch. He would help! Struggling, she gripped the bedpost and pulled herself up, holding the small of her back for support. Then she darted over to Beck and shook him awake. “Beck!” she sobbed. “Beck, wake up!” She freed one of her hands from his shoulder to wipe away the blurring tears forming in her eyes.

When Beck’s alert eyes finally shot open, he jumped up off the couch and ran to his RV door. He looked out for the Chevy Newport that Jade had driven over here, but it was nowhere in sight. He turned back to Cat. “What happened?” he questioned frantically.

“Robbie’s hurt!” she exclaimed, avoiding the answer she should have given him. “He’s hardly breathing and he won’t wake up! He hit his head on your bedpost.”

Slower, but still fast-paced, Beck moved to his unconscious friend on the floor. He grabbed Robbie’s wrist to check his vitals and his stare went blank. “His pulse is barely there,” he said quietly.

“No!” Cat shrieked. She pushed Beck out of the way and got down on her knees in front of Robbie. She gently grabbed his face, tears falling onto the uncovered portion of his right cheek. “Robbie,” she wept. She leant down into him and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Maybe it was the desperation that made her continue to kiss him; maybe it was the hope that she felt him kiss her back that kept her by his side.

She began to lose all sense of time and, before she knew it, the paramedics were pulling her off of him. They were telling her something, but she couldn’t hear it. She only wanted to be near Robbie. When they pulled him away from her, she felt cold and empty.

They probably told her that she couldn’t get into the ambulance because Beck was already in there, but she didn’t hear it. Nor did she care. They probably told her to let go of Robbie’s hand, but she didn’t hear it. She never took her eyes off him. She was stricken with the physically painful worry that the scary man (she couldn’t believe he was Jade’s brother) had taken Robbie away from her, too.

And she didn’t even know his name.


	11. You Kill Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Tori's date counter is here too because why not?

* * *

_“I know that hope weighs on your mind, lost within the seams. It seems like we lose ourselves in between. But the harder things become, the harder you push away. It kills me. These promises that you can't keep, it's getting harder to hold on.” – Sleeping With Sirens_

* * *

She told them something bad was going to happen if they didn’t leave.

She told them, but they didn’t listen.

Jade knew she had to protect Cat, even if it meant putting herself in danger. She used to think Liam wouldn’t hurt her nearly as bad as he’d hurt Cat, but he showed her a few hours ago how serious he was about keeping his whore sister in line. But whatever he was going to do it her would be _nothing_ compared to the horrible things Jade thought he’d do to her best friend.

At least she knew for certain she’d live to see her babies…

She refused to speak as Liam drove her home, and he didn’t force her. Occasionally, she’d look over at him to see his knuckles growing white with strain as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. She risked a glance at his face. It was pink and growing redder by the minute; a vein in his neck stood out like it normally did when he was scalding mad. She knew she wasn’t going to die tonight, but he would probably beat her pretty close.

Maybe she breathed a little too loudly.

“ _You’re gonna get it this time, you goddamn whore_!” he exploded. He slammed his foot on the brake and she lurched forward in her seat, almost hitting her head on the dashboard. When she fell back into her seat with a breathtaking slam, her babies began kicking around again. She clamped her mouth shut to keep from screaming and gripped her stomach. She knew he’d get angrier if she made a noise, but she couldn’t help the labored breathing.

Liam glared at her with sheer hate in his eyes. “You don’t fucking learn do you?” he spat loudly. Jade didn’t move or respond, but her breathing settled when her children stopped moving. “I bet you made that little shit think he’s the father of _my_ children, didn’t you, you conniving skank? _Didn’t you_?”

The intensity of his voice caused Jade to flinch and she turned away from him. “No,” she told him honestly. She took in a deep breath and turned back to him. “I told them they weren’t his,” she explained in her smallest voice, “But I didn’t tell him whose they were…”

Liam’s lips fell into a hard line. “Tell me why I don’t believe you,” he snarled.

“I’m telling the truth!” Jade cried loudly before she could stop herself. She quickly covered her mouth and sank into her seat.

Liam’s eye began to twitch with rage, but he couldn’t hit her. He had to remind himself that. They were in public and he couldn’t hit her. Instead, he grabbed her by the collar of her blouse.

“Listen to me and listen good,” he demanded in a dark, quiet tone. “Since you want to be such a goddamn whore, since you want to be with me and fuck that stupid little ex-boyfriend you don’t deserve while you’re pregnant with _my_ babies, you’re going to go inside _Spencer’s_ and get yourself some vibrating underwear. You’re going to wear them unless I say otherwise and I control the setting.”

Jade gasped, disgusted. “No way,” she denied. “That’s gr—”

Liam slammed the back of her head against the passenger window. “ _Do what I fucking say or I’ll pay Cat another visit and finish what I started_!” he screamed. If anyone were around, they’d hear him; unfortunately for Jade, it was pretty late at night and everyone was already asleep or where they wanted to be.

Jade clenched her eyes shut. “I don’t have any money,” she whispered on the verge of tears. She kept thinking about Cat and what Liam would do to her if Jade didn’t comply with his every demand; he might actually _kill_ Cat…

“That never stopped you before,” Liam sneered. “Go in there and steal it like the little thief you are. You always take what you want, so this is no problem.” He shook her roughly. “Look at me,” he demanded harshly. Jade quickly wrenched her eyes open. “If you mess this up, if you let anyone know what’s going on, I’ll beat you until they need to put you on life support. And when you have my children, I’ll pull the plug on you myself. Do I make myself clear?”

At least he wasn’t going to kill her right away…

“Yes, sir…”

Liam let go of her collar and reached for the door handle. When he opened the car, he sat up and looked her dead in the eye. “Go,” he commanded, “And don’t get caught.”

Wordlessly, Jade climbed out of the car and made her way to the door. She didn’t notice it when they had initially pulled up to the store. Of all the _Spencer’s_ in Hollywood, Liam picked the shadiest one. This one was practically a hole in the wall; crack heads and meth addicts liked to hang around this one, begging for money and offering sexual favors in return. They were lepers who weren’t allowed inside many buildings in Hollywood, but this _Spencer’s_ didn’t mind if they loitered. Business was scarce anyway, so who would the druggies scare away?

A woman nearly as pale as Jade with straw thin blonde hair and glassy gray eyes watched Jade as she approached the store. The swaddling clothed woman shot to her bare feet and moved to Jade. “I heard sex is the best when you’re pregnant,” she announced in a raspy voice. “I’ll give you a good fuck for twenty dollars!” Jade looked at the woman with a disgusted sneer as she scratched at flaky skin hidden beneath her wisps of straw hair.

“Go fuck yourself,” Jade snarled. Why was it easier to say that to a random stranger than her own god-forsaken brother?

The woman scowled and flipped Jade off. “You’re gonna burn in hell, tramp!” she shouted.

Jade rolled her eyes and entered the store. That woman was just full of useless words.

When the bell rang, signaling she had entered, a tall man with hair as long as Beck’s and bright blue eyes looked to Jade. His face was full of piercings and she wondered if there was any skin left under all that metal. Glimmering silver trailed up and down his neck and whatever free skin wasn’t pierced had been covered in various tattoos. From under the white undershirt he wore, Jade could see there were more tattoos of various obscene words scrawled on his body.

At one point in time, he would have been the most attractive thing on the planet to Jade.

Now he was just revolting.

“If you’re not going to buy anything,” he began, “Please don’t supply the druggies.”

Jade grimaced. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she retorted. Then she made her way to the back of the store where all the sex toys were. At the very back of the store, where the pierced man wouldn’t be able to see her, she spotted the vibrating underwear. They sat in a large, rectangular, pink box. The fabric was black and it gave a picture of how they were supposed to work. She’d never been curious, but now she knew; a mechanical piece that was attached to the underwear was supposed to go inside her and the remote that controlled it had ten different settings.

A tattooed hand reached out beside her head and grabbed a pair of vibrating underwear. Jade jumped slightly and turned around to face the pierced man; he practically had her pinned against the wall. “You look like you want these,” he announced. He held the box out to her. It looked the same as the one she’d looked at, but the picture on the box showed there was an extra part to the underwear. “It massages your clit so you don’t have to,” he told her with a blank face. Jade looked from him to the box and back to him, just as the left corner of his lip twitched up into a smirk.

Jade snatched the box from him and looked away. “Can I just pay for the stupid thing already?” she griped. She was lucky she had stuffed some money in her bra; she really didn’t want to steal from a sex shop…

“On the house,” the man declared. “Pregnant girls need fun, too.” His half-smirk had grown into a full, perverted smile and Jade ducked out away from him as she muttered a thanks. She quickly made her way back to the car, past the howling drug addicts that all promised the best sex that would be ‘a thousand times better than that little vibrator.’

Once she got in the car, Liam eyed the box. “Did you flash your tits to get it since you’re too chicken to steal it?” he assumed.

Jade scowled, but wouldn’t look her brother in the eye. “No,” she breathed.

Liam’s hand snatched out to her left breast. Jade squirmed as his hand went down her shirt, but he held her tightly with his other hand. His nails scraped her skin as he felt around for the money and she let out a pained groan. When Liam removed his hand, he held up the folded up two hundred dollars, pink staining his fingernails. Jade looked down to see the top of her breast was starting to bleed, so she held her hand over it.

“ _How’d you get it_?” Liam questioned loudly after counting the money.

“He gave it to me,” Jade answered, looking away again.

Liam slapped her across the face and her forehead hit the passenger window. “Goddamn tramp.”

* * *

**_Don’t ever let me fall_ **

* * *

When they got home, their father’s car was nowhere in sight; he was probably in a hotel room with another one of his hookers. Liam got out first and slammed the car door. He walked around to Jade’s side and ripped the door open, grabbing her roughly by her arm while she held on tightly to the box. The window shook as he slammed the door and he pulled his younger sister inside the house.

Once inside, Liam threw her on the couch and stood with his arms crossed. “Put it on,” he ordered sternly. Normally, she would have protested, but she was tired and she would need her strength for when she was actually wearing the panties from Hell. So she slipped off her jeans and underwear at the same time. She ripped open the box and pulled out the underwear. As she did so, Liam snatched the box from her and took out the controller.

She sat down as she put her feet through the underwear and didn’t stand up until they were halfway up her thigh. Hesitantly, she positioned the black mechanical part of the underwear and placed it inside her. It was wider than she was used to, so she let out an initial shocked moan. Reluctantly, she positioned the smaller mechanical piece over her clitoris and looked to her brother in wait.

“You only care about yourself,” he accused. “You’re addicted to being fucked and you’ll do whatever it takes to get off. I’m gonna let you get off, Jade.” He smirked darkly to himself. “You’re gonna keep getting off until you can’t stand it; I’m gonna break you of your whorish nature and to do that, I gotta make you have as many orgasms as possible. Then you’ll learn.”

Jade closed her eyes and crossed her arms. She was starting to get really tired of his shit, but she would have to just endure whatever her monstrous brother threw at her; she had to keep Cat safe.

Jade heard a small clicking and the underwear began to vibrate. She inhaled sharply and Liam grabbed her roughly by the chin, forcing her to open her eyes. “Go clean the fucking house, slut,” he demanded. “I expect it to shine by the time I wake up.” He pushed her by her chin and she fell onto the couch, the wide metal piece going deeper inside her. She let out a slightly pained moan that Liam ignored. Then he made his way upstairs, leaving Jade alone with what she knew was going to be a new form of torture.

* * *

**_Don’t ever let me fall_ **

* * *

By the time Jade finished cleaning the house, it was midnight. She would have been done at least half an hour earlier, but constant orgasms distracted her. As she cleaned, her babies wanted to move around and kick like no tomorrow, which made it harder for her to stand upright for too long. They were also making her hungry, so she had to stop every twenty minutes and forage for food; Liam hadn’t gone grocery shopping lately, so there were only packs of Ramen noodles lying around.

When she was finally done cleaning, she collapsed on the couch. She had to be careful of the way she did so, because the metal piece inside her would pinch her in the wrong place. When she settled down, the quiet humming of the vibrator started to annoy her and her body shook with another orgasm. She wouldn’t be able to go upstairs with that damn underwear on.

She wanted to call Beck, to make him rip off those panties, pick her up in his strong arms, and carry her far away from this hellhole…or at least to a police station so she could try and convince them Liam was a monster.

Moving slowly, she turned on the couch and reached for her phone. She had to grip the back of the couch since her bulbous stomach threatened to make her fall off. And lucky for her, Liam hadn’t bothered looking for her cell phone. She pulled it out of her pants pocket and saw the small orange light blinking in the corner.

Someone had texted her.

Jade unlocked her phone to find a text from Beck saying that he was at the hospital with Robbie and Cat. Robbie was also in a coma.

 _Fuck_ , Jade thought. _Shit…Why did that stupid puppet freak have to be at Beck’s anyway?_

God knows what Cat was going through right now; Jade knew how much Cat had liked Robbie, even before she dated Danny. Maybe Cat hated Jade; maybe Cat thought it was Jade’s fault…which it was.

Jade held back her tears as she clicked a reply to her boyfriend.

**_This might be my last goodbye. I love you…_ **

She turned her phone on silent so it wouldn’t vibrate and forced herself off the couch. She didn’t want to sleep downstairs and risk Liam coming down and doing God knows what to her. She would force herself to go upstairs; she knew for a fact that the paper Officer Meringues gave her was still in her pillow case and she needed that number.

Tonight she would get away from Liam, or she would die trying.

Each step made Jade feel like she was walking on needles; the metal vibrator pinched her insides and made her whole body tremble. By now, the orgasms were starting to drain her energy and she could barely stand up straight. Her clitoris felt like it was being rubbed raw with every step she took and each vibration of the smaller metal piece that covered it made her hurt in ways she never thought possible.

With as much balance as she could pull out, Jade gripped the staircase banister with both hands and pulled herself onto the first stair. The pinching of the large metal piece grew worse and she had to physically bite her lip to keep from crying out and waking the beast upstairs. Before continuing to the next step, she took in a deep breath through her nose and held it, only exhaling when she’d managed to climb two more stairs. And after what seemed like hours and countless breaths later, Jade reached the top of the stairs.

As soon as she reached the opposing wall to steady herself, she heard the door handling jiggling; her father must have decided to come home early tonight. Fear spreading through her, Jade moved as quickly as possible to get to her room; she couldn’t have her father seeing her pants-less with vibrating underwear on while she was twenty-two weeks pregnant.

By the time her drunken father had finally shoved the front door open, Jade had made it to her bedroom door. She slunk into her room and gently closed the door so no one would hear them. With her last remaining strength, she moved to her bed and crashed face-down on her comforter. Her hand slid over to her pillow and she reached inside. At the back of the pillow case, her pillow contained a small tear that was just large enough to fit a small folded piece of paper in. Even if Liam had gone through her pillow case looking for anything, he wouldn’t find it because he wouldn’t be bothered with searching the pillow itself.

Jade wasted no time in unraveling the note and unlocked her phone so she could quickly punch in the number in her phone. She didn’t believe in God, but she prayed that He would make the Officer answer his phone. But after four years, she lost her hope. She was about to hang up when the phone stopped ringing and a tired voice answered the phone.

 _“Officer Meringues,”_ the Officer’s tired voice announced.

“This is Jade West,” she breathed quietly into her phone, trying to hide his excitement that he picked up. “You came to my house last week to check on me.”

 _“Yes, I remember,”_ the Officer told her. His voice sounded more alert, like he was ready for anything she had to throw at him. _“Are you in any present danger?”_

“If…if my brother catches me,” she begins quietly, just barely above a whisper, “I will be. He put one of my friends in a coma. He…threatened me again today, threatening to hurt another one of my friends if I didn’t do what he said.”

 _“I’m on my way right now, Jade,”_ Officer Meringues stated. _“I’m bringing backup and we’ll handle this; you don’t have to be scared anymore, okay? Just try to keep yourself safe until we get there, alright?”_

“Okay,” Jade sighed.

Her phone went silent and Jade stuffed the note back into the pillow, fixing her pillow case as if nothing had been disturbed. She quickly deleted the call from her phone and, as she hit delete, she received a text message. The pop-up screen only flashed Beck’s name with a little mail symbol under it, but she couldn’t bear to read it. He would probably ask her what’s going on, what’s happening to her, and why she sent him the message.

But she couldn’t outright say she might die tonight; that truth was too painful to take in.

She quickly shoved her phone into one of her bedside drawers and curled up on her sides. After a few moments longer, Jade’s body convulsed slightly with another orgasm. With an annoyed groan, her hand snapped out between her mattress and her box spring for her favorite pair of scissors. Wasting no time, she forced the scissors between her thigh and the fabric of the devil’s panties and clipped them. She rolled onto her back to do the same with the other side and pulled the God-awful underwear off. The metal piece inside her slid out of her with a loud slick and made a low drumming noise as it writhed on the floor when she threw it across her room.

Slowly, Jade pulled herself off of the bed and quietly shuffled to the bathroom. If she was going to be saved, she needed some time of evidence that she needed saving. Quietly, she closed the bathroom door and moved to the mirror. She pulled open the mirror cabinet and found one of her leg razors. Holding it in her hand and eying it with slight skepticism, she sighed heavily.

 _Just a little more pain and it’ll all be over_ , she reminded herself.

Clenching her eyes shut, Jade put the razor to her skin and pressed deep against it, pulling it against her skin and feeling the stinging pain. She opened her eyes to find a large gash on her left arm, a wide trail of blood sliding down to her wrist. She repeated the same motion on her right arm, but higher up so it doesn’t look staged. With shaking hands, she dropped the razor and it fell into the sink with drops of her blood.

Taking in a deep breath, Jade brought her fingernails, which hand grown long and strong with her pregnancy, to her cheek. She dug her nails into her flesh and scratched her cheek, feeling the blood spread on her fingertips. She then proceeded to scratch her neck on the opposite side.

Finally, clenching the sides of the sink, Jade readied herself and smashed her head against the mirror, shattering it with a loud smash and sending shards flying everywhere on the floor as the cut her face.

Realizing she made more noise than she intended, Jade hurried back to her room and closed the door. She forced herself to grab hold of her dresser and dragged it across her bedroom rug.

“Jade!” Liam shouted, pounding on his wall. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Jade refused to answer him, pulling her dresser farther across the room to block her door. Once she’d gotten halfway in front of the door, Liam began banging on the wood. “Answer me, you little shit,” he snarled. “And what’s that goddamn noise? You better not have taken those fucking underwear off!”

“Fuck you!” Jade shouted through the door. Blood spat out onto the top of her dresser as she spoke.

Liam banged rougher on the door. “What the fuck did you just say?” he screamed. He turned the handle and shoved the door open, but thankfully Jade had managed to somewhat block the door with her dresser. However, Liam still had enough leeway to stick his arm through. He began pawing at the air, trying to grab her and—if possible—pull her through the small opening of her door.

Jade kept her hands pressed against the dresser and put her body weight on it, moving along the front of the dresser until she got to the other side, so she could push it the rest of the way. Though Liam began to bombard the door with his weight, Jade still managed to push the dresser in front of it and, subsequently, shut the door the remaining way.

“Move that fucking dresser!” Liam demanded.

“No!” Jade shot back. She intended to wait it out in her room until the police got there. Listening to her neurotic brother would greatly falter her plan. Just saying.

Liam resorted to banging on the door as hard as he could with his fist, rattling the door with great intensity. Jade keeps her back pressed tightly against the dresser, digging her feet into the carpeting. After a moment longer, the rattling on the door stopped and Jade listened for any sounds. She didn’t hear his footsteps retreating or anything really, but she wasn’t going to slip up and step away from the dresser.

After a moment of silence, a loud booming noise startled Jade. She jumped against the dresser and turned to the wall that separated her room from her brother’s. The loud booming sounded again and a small section of the wall shook violently. The wall shook again with the deafening boom, a small crack starting to form.

In the realization of what was happening, Jade gasped and scuttled to her closet. She stood as close to the inner most portion of the closet as Liam continued to break down the wall of her room.

“I’ll teach you a lesson, you little cunt,” Liam screamed.

Jade shut her eyes tightly, clinging to herself and shivering in the closet. With each loud slam of the wall, Jade flinched and fought back her tears.

When the blow was at its softest, Jade held her breath. But when the sledge hammer Liam had used to break the wall was thrown across the room with an ear shattering crash, Jade couldn’t help but scream.

Walking slowly and filled with rage, Liam made his way over to Jade’s closet where she cowered in fear. He stopped when he spotted the vibrating underwear writhing on the floor a few feet from the closet. He picked it up by the hips of the underwear and clenched it tightly in his hand. When he turned to face his sister, she looked up to him in sheer terror.

First, Liam’s arm began to twitch with his blinding anger. Then it began to shake until his whole body shook with the fury within him. “You think this is funny?” he seethed through clenched teeth as he held up the underwear. Before she had the chance to speak, Liam threw the underwear at her. She ducked away with a small squeak and Liam lunged into the closet, gripping her tightly by her blouse.

“Get up, you shit faced tramp,” he snarled. “What the fuck did you do to your face? Planning on running away and blaming it all on me? Trying to get me locked up?” Jade didn’t speak. “Answer me,” he ordered. She still refused to speak. “I said _answer me_!” Liam bellowed, causing Jade to flinch from the intensity in his voice.

“Yes,” Jade whispered, refusing to look at him. Liam threw Jade against the wall.

“You lying piece of shit! You think I’m hurting you? You’re hurting yourself by making me do these things to you; you’re bringing your punishments on yourself!”

Downstairs, there was a small commotion, some shouting, and a distant crash. Jade couldn’t make out what is being said, but she and her brother knew that the police were there.

Liam looked from Jade’s doorway to his sister with a dark smirk. “Looks like I’m going to jail tonight,” he sneered, “But I’ll give them a reason to lock me away.” With that, he wrapped his hands around Jade’s neck and began to squeeze. He held her throat tightly and her hands clawed at his, trying to pry him off her.

“Come out with your hands up,” came Officer Meringues’ stern voice. “We have you surrounded!”

Liam grunted in anger and shook Jade roughly, slamming the back of her head against the doorframe of her closet.

“In here!” Jade choked out, her voice barely audible. Liam stifled a mocking laugh and continued to shake her, his grip tightening around her neck.

Jade could feel her life draining out of her, but she needed to keep going. It was endgame and Liam planned to kill her, regardless of the lives inside her. The babies, probably knowing of their mother’s peril, began to kick harder inside her as if they were trying to get out and save themselves.

Adrenaline surged through Jade’s body, and she found the strength to lift her knee up into Liam’s crotch with enough force that he released his younger sister. He stumbled backward, hunched over as he held his injured testicles.

Jade staggered away from Liam, toward the gaping hole he’d gone through to get from his room to hers. She coughed fiercely, her lungs burning with the new air filling them. “In here!” she cried out in a rasping voice. She saw the policeman standing outside Liam’s doorway, guns in hand, as the scoped the area for her before she’d called.

As they turned to her, Liam’s arm reached out around her stomach and jaggedly pulled her back to him. “You can’t take me!” he shouted, his voice pulsating in Jade’s eardrums.

“Let her go,” Officer Meringues demanded with an even tone. “You’re under arrest for the abuse of Jade West. Come peacefully or we’ll be forced to take you away.”

Liam opened his mouth to say something else, but Jade stamped down on his foot and the pain made him release her. She moved out of the way and the officers charged in. Liam quickly regained his composure and ran through the hole in the wall into Jade’s room. However, a younger blonde officer ran quickly after Liam and tackled him to the ground.

“You have the right to remain silent,” the officer announced as he pulled Liam’s hands behind his back and handcuffed him. “Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law. If—”

“Officer Meringues!” a female officer exclaimed. All the officers turned back to the young redhead to see her beside Jade who had fainted on Liam’s bed.

**Jade: 23 weeks**

**Cat: 17 weeks**

**Tori: 12 week**


	12. She

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Cat's thoughts represented in this chapter are the thoughts of a typical person, not my own.

* * *

_“Confused and a lot to take, and where to fall out and when, she won't be good to you.” – Louie Says_

* * *

“Robbie’s hurt!” Cat exclaimed, avoiding the answer she should have given Beck when he asked her what happened. “He’s hardly breathing and he won’t wake up! He hit his head on your bedpost.” Right now, Robbie was her main priority; she was terrified for him—more so than for her best friend—and she wanted to make him safe again.

Beck moved quickly to his unconscious friend that barely breathed as Cat clung to herself a few feet away from him. He grabbed Robbie’s wrist to check his vitals and his stare went blank. Cat’s frantic brown eyes darted back from Beck to Robbie, terrified of what had wiped all emotion from Beck’s face. “His pulse is barely there,” he announced quietly.

“No!” Cat shrieked. She pushed Beck out of the way and got down on her knees in front of Robbie. She gently grabbed his face, tears falling onto the uncovered portion of his right cheek. “Robbie,” she wept. She leant down into him and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Maybe it was the desperation that made her continue to kiss him; maybe it was the hope that she felt him kiss her back that kept her by his side. Eventually, she’d lain down beside him, planting hopeful kisses on his pale, unmoving lips. She thought she felt Beck move, thought she heard him call 911, but she ignored anything that wasn’t Robbie.

She began to lose all sense of time and—before she knew it—the paramedics were pulling her off of him. They were telling her something, but she couldn’t hear it. She only wanted to be near Robbie. When they pulled him away from her, she felt cold and empty. They tried to help her up, but she swatted their hands away and pulled herself up using Beck’s bed. She followed them as they took Robbie on a stretcher out of the RV and into the ambulance.

They probably told her that she couldn’t get into the ambulance because Beck was already in there, but she didn’t hear it. Nor did she care. They probably told her to let go of Robbie’s hand, but she didn’t hear it. She never took her eyes off him. She was stricken with the physically painful worry that the scary man—whom she couldn’t believe was Jade’s brother—had taken Robbie away from her, too.

And she didn’t even know his name.

Cat rode in the back of the ambulance clinging to Robbie’s hand as he lay with a breathing mask covering his blood-stained mouth. His breathing was labored and shallow, and Cat could hardly keep herself from crying. Jade…her brother…Jade’s brother had stolen Jade away, and now Robbie was on the verge of death.

Cat was lucky Jade had stopped her brother from hurting her, but she blamed Jade for bringing that cursed man into their lives in the first place. Cat had loved Robbie for years now, and just like that, he was almost out of her life. Robbie was promising to love her, to keep her safe, and to help with her baby…but Jade ruined that. Robbie didn’t look like he was going to make it, and it was all Jade’s fault. Why couldn’t Jade have just talked about what was wrong in her house? If she did that, everything could have worked itself out. Why couldn’t Jade go to the police? She could have talked to Tori’s dad and he could have helped her.

Whatever it was that was happening, Jade could have gotten away from that awful scary man. Whatever was happening, it was Jade’s fault for not leaving. Even worse, she had to drag everyone else into her problems. What kind of friend was that? What kind of friend let her brother put someone else into a coma? What kind of friend put others in danger, especially pregnant others? What kind of girlfriend let her brother beat up her boyfriend?

Jade was no friend in the least.

* * *

**_And I hate the way I am_ **

* * *

To Cat, it seemed like she rode for hours in that cramped ambulance. Beck kept a protective arm around her, but she never stopped looking at Robbie. With each breath he let out, she feared he wouldn’t take another in.

Eventually, they arrived at the hospital and Beck had to help the paramedics pry Cat away from Robbie so they could get him to the E.R. Once out of the ambulance, she freed herself from Beck and followed Robbie’s gurney until doctors in green scrubs told her she couldn’t go any farther. Her hands started to shake as the doctors in green followed after Robbie and Beck had to hold her tightly to keep her body from trembling violently.

 _Why would Jade do this?_ Cat continued to think. That question floated through her mind, as well as instant replays of Liam’s assault on Robbie. As the images blurred in her flustered mind, she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. Anger, fear, and desperation clumped in her throat and it was hard for Cat to breathe.

She clenched her eyes shut; she was about to have a panic attack. _Count to ten_ , she reminded herself. _Count to ten and do it again_.

She took in deep breaths, pushing herself closer to Beck, and she counted to ten. By the time she got there, she didn’t feel any less anxious, so she counted again. She’d counted forwards and back at least six times, but she kept messing up because she forgot ‘three.’

The panic was gone, but now she was just left with sadness. Cat didn’t know much about medical stuff, but Robbie was in pretty bad condition and she didn’t know if he would make it. And it got her thinking: what would she do if he didn’t make it? How would she survive? Now that Jade was back in Beck’s life, he was going to do whatever it took to help her get through her ordeal with her brother. He would also invest a lot of time into helping her raise her babies; he wouldn’t have any time to help Cat with her little bundle. And her mom sure as hell wasn’t an option anymore.

Robbie was all she had left if she hoped to raise her baby right…

Her baby hadn’t kicked yet, but now it decided to. Little feet fluttered around in Cat’s stomach and her hands clenched the fabric of her shirt. “Can we sit down?” Cat pleaded quietly as she looked up at Beck. He nodded solemnly with red-rimmed eyes and led her to the nearest comfy chairs. It wasn’t until she sat down that Cat noticed her feet were hurting.

At least the baby stopped kicking.

“Cat,” Beck breathed. His voice was uneven and strained. She looked up at him with tears starting to brim her eyes.

“Is Robbie gonna be okay?” she asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Beck closed his eyes and took in a shuddering breath. He pressed his forehead to Cat’s, trying to collect himself. A tear slid from Cat’s face; she didn’t know how to handle Beck crying…

“I don’t know,” he finally replied. “He’s…he’s not doing so well.” He sniffled slightly and Cat wrapped her arms around him, pulling them closer together. Strawberries floated up to Beck’s nose and he let out a small, forced chuckle. “Whatever happens,” he continued, “We have each other. I’m gonna take care of you, Cat, understand?”

Cat smiled in spite of herself. “Yeah,” she breathed. “Thank you…”

* * *

**_And I hate the way I am_ **

* * *

Amongst her crying and Beck’s warmth, as well as the pregnancy and what happened earlier, Cat was worn out. And when Beck shook her slightly, she realized she’d fallen asleep right in his arms.

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking from Beck to one of the doctors in green scrubs.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” the doctor announced. His tired green eyes were full of sadness, unwilling to deliver whatever he had to say.

“Is Robbie gonna be okay?” Cat asked loudly, shooting to her feet. She gripped the doctor by his collar in desperation. “You have to help him! It’s your job!”

Beck stood and placed his hands on Cat’s. Reluctantly, she let the doctor go and he stepped back a foot.

“Your friend is—”

“Robbie!” Cat interrupted.

“Robbie,” the doctor acknowledged, “is going to be okay, but I’m afraid he’s in a coma.”

“Well take him out of it!” Cat pleaded. She reached for him again but the doctor stepped back again and Beck grabbed her hands. He pulled her to face him.

“It doesn’t work like that, Cat,” he explained. “Robbie’s…he’s…he got hurt really bad and he needs a lot of rest to get better, but we can’t wake him up.”

“Why not?” Cat begged, her eyes welling with tears.

Beck fought back his own tears; he didn’t want to be the one to tell Cat of all people. “He needs a lot of rest,” Beck answered simply. “It’s like that one time when your brother had to have surgery on his head and he wouldn’t wake up for three days. Robbie won’t wake up until he’s completely better.”

“So will he wake up in three days?” she asked hopefully.

Beck closed his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts and looked at her again. “I doubt it,” he replied. “Robbie got hurt pretty bad; no one knows how long it’ll take for him to get better…”

“You can see him if you’d like,” the doctor announced, gently reaching for Cat’s arm. She turned to his tall figure and let him lead her through mazes of corridors in the hospital until they reached Robbie’s room. The doctor stood at the door and motioned with his hand for Cat to go inside. “I’ll leave you three alone…”

Cat completely disregarded his words and rushed into the room. Robbie lay unmoving on a white hospital bed wearing a jumble of wires and a light blue hospital gown. His hands rested atop a light blue wool blanket. Two small tubes hung from his nose as a respirator pumped air into him and a large white tube was taped into his mouth, his lips completely hidden by the tape. His face had purple spots in some places, yellow spots in others. There was a small gash on his right eyebrow and bandages covered the back of his head, matting down his dark curls.

Cat gasped and covered her mouth, standing a few feet from his bed. The sight was too much for her to bear. She staggered backwards, but Beck was there with strong arms to catch her. She turned around in his arms and clung to his shirt, burying her face in his chest. He held her in a long silence as she sobbed quietly to herself.

* * *

**_And I hate the way I am_ **

* * *

Eventually, Cat had calmed down enough that Beck could lead her to one of the bedside chairs. She sat down in it while he sat on the floor beside her. She stared glumly at Robbie before turning back to Beck. He was half asleep, his head lolling slightly as he clutched his phone tightly in his hand. Cat assumed he was texting Jade, and that made her a little angry; if Jade could text Beck, she could definitely call the police and get rid of her mean brother. She didn’t understand why Beck didn’t just call the police for Jade since he cared so much.

Cat rose from her chair and leaned over to kiss Robbie on one of his bruised cheeks. His skin was still a little cold and she knew it would warm up, but it still broke her heart to see and feel him like this.

With a defeated sigh, Cat turned to leave the hospital room.

“Where are you going?” Beck called quietly from the floor. Cat turned and she could see the top of his head over Robbie’s knee.

“I’m hungry,” she announced quietly.

Shakily, Beck rose. “Sit back down,” he advised as he reached for his wallet. “I’ll get it for you. What do you want?”

Cat shook her head. “I want to get it,” she told him. “I need to…get away for a little bit.” She looked to Robbie for a brief moment and turned her head, clinging to herself.

Beck sighed and walked over to her, holding her tightly. “He’s gonna be okay, Cat.”

Cat pulled away from him. “I really need some food…”

Beck tried to give her some money, but Cat turned it down, claiming she had her own money. Beck went back to his spot on the floor while Cat turned the corner. Doctors and nurses were scattered around the hospital corridor, talking to each other or reading patient info to see what the patient needed. In the corner of her eye, Cat spotted a sign for the cafeteria and her stomach growled. But in front of her, she saw a surgeon’s table, filled with dirty equipment that needed to be washed.

As if in a daze, she moved toward the table. She spotted a bloodied scalpel amongst scissors and stitching wire, and the spots not covered in blood seemed to glisten. She looked around, making sure no one was watching her, and snatched the scalpel. She wrapped it in a blood-stained paper towel and shoved it in her pocket, hiding the top of it with her shirt.

“Hey, kid,” a female doctor called. Cat snapped around to see a blonde doctor with bright blue eyes coming toward her with a clipboard in hand. “You shouldn’t play around over here; this is very dangerous—” She looked down at Cat’s stomach. “Oh,” she breathed. Her eyes softened and she looked up at Cat. “You were just looking for the cafeteria, weren’t you?”

Cat nodded. “I’ve never been here before,” she announced. “So I’m lost.”

The doctor smiled slightly. “Go straight and take a right,” she told Cat. “Then you’ll see another sign telling you to go left and you’ll be there.”

“Thank you!” Cat exclaimed with a wide grin. She turned on her heels and hurried down the hall. Her smile remained on her face until she rounded the corner. When she saw the doctor wasn’t following her, she kept walking, her hand inching toward the scalpel in her pocket. As she walked, she spotted a hospital room with a made up bed and no one in it. She looked around again to make sure no one was watching and entered the room. She closed the door, but she didn’t quite close it all the way when she left it.

Cat moved to the bed and laid on it, her back elevated at a comfortable angle. The scalpel began to poke through the paper towel and graze the side of Cat’s stomach. She shifted slightly in order to pull it out of her pocket. With the blood-stained napkin, she wiped off as much blood as possible and the scalpel glistened in the fluorescent light. Her stomach began to growl again and she looked down at it.

“No one wants you,” she mumbled quietly. Tears started to fall from her eyes again as she held her stomach. “I want you, baby, but no one else does. I can’t have you…” Both hands gripping the handle of the scalpel, she pulled it away from her as far as her arms would allow and brought it down with rough force onto her stomach. She didn’t want to scream, but she let it out in a small pained noise. Breathing heavily, she brought the scalpel to her wrist. She’d seen girls in movies and girls on TV do this, so she was sure this ways the way to go.

“No one wants me either…”

She pressed the warm, wet metal into the skin of her wrist and a bead of blood formed at the tip of the scalpel. The air getting into her wrist hurt, so Cat bit her bottom lip to keep from making a noise. Slowly, she pulled the scalpel across her skin and did the same motion on her other wrist. Blood dripped from both wrists and stained the blanket as Cat set the scalpel on her lap. With a shuddering sigh, tears streaming down her cheeks, Cat lay back against the bed and awaited death.

* * *

**_~*And I hate the way I am*~_ **

* * *

They found her just in time. Had they found her even ten seconds later, Cat would have died. She was quickly taken into surgery and they had to do a blood transfusion. Her surgery took at least an hour and Beck worriedly paced back and forth in front of the operating room, hands shaking in front of his face.

Half an hour ago, he’d seen doctors wheel Jade into the hospital in a flurry, shouting all types of medical jargon back and forth at each other. He tried to find out what was happening to her, but the doctors kept ignoring him or telling him to go away because they needed to take care of her. Fifteen minutes after they’d taken her in, the flurry subsided and four of the five doctors that carried her into the room left. Beck entered the room as the last doctor was filling out some papers in a clipboard.

“What happened to her?” he asked in a calm voice. He looked down at her scarred face. Aside from the scars and scratches, she looked peaceful as she slept.

“She was attacked,” the doctor explained. “And she fainted due to stress, as well as just plain exhaustion. It’s nothing too serious, and everyone’s fine.” The doctor eyed Beck up and down. “Are you the father of her babies?” he asked.

“Yes,” Beck answered without hesitation.

For a brief moment, the doctor flashed a disdainful look, probably because he knew that Jade was a young girl. He didn’t approve of young couples. But then his face warmed into a smile. “Do you want to know the genders?” he asked lightly.

Beck’s face lit up with excitement. “Yeah,” he breathed.

“If all goes well,” the doctor began, “You’ll be the proud father of a bouncing baby boy and a beautiful baby girl.”

Beck smiled widely, and a small joyous laugh escaped his lips. Whether or not they were his babies, he was going to have a son and a daughter with the woman he loved. He couldn’t believe the luck.

As he marveled in the miracle of life, frantic voices filled the halls. The doctor’s beeper went off frantically and he hurried out of the room. Beck looked on after him to see him join a group of doctors as they wheeled a gurney down the hall. From where he stood, Beck saw blood-stained sheets and…deep red hair…

“Cat!” he screamed. He ran after the doctors trying to see her. Her face was deathly pale and the rest of her body was covered by bloodied blankets. “What happened to her?” he shouted toward the doctors.

“Move out of the way, kid,” one of them ordered. “She’s losing a lot of blood.”

“Is she going into labor?”

“No, now let us do our jobs!”

With that, they rushed Cat into the ER and Beck forced himself not to go in after her. If not for the constant stress, Beck probably would have collapsed from exhaustion.

It seemed like this day would never end.

* * *

**_~*And I hate the way I am*~_ **

* * *

When Cat awoke, she tried to move, but her hands were held down. She tried to move her legs, but they were also held down.

“Hello?” Cat called loudly. “Is anyone there?”

She looked down at her stomach. It was still big, and it still felt like there was a baby in it. She couldn’t do anything right…

“You’re awake,” a female doctor announced as she opened the door to Cat’s room.

“Where am I?” Cat questioned quietly. “What’s going on?”

The doctor frowned. “You’re very sick, Miss Valentine,” she announced. “You tried to kill yourself and your baby.”

“No one wants us,” Cat replied glumly.

The doctor sighed and sat on the edge of Cat’s bed. “There’s a boy outside worried about you, Miss Valentine,” she stated. “Someone cares about you, and I’m pretty sure he cares about your baby.”

Cat looked away from her doctor. “It doesn’t matter now,” she mumbled. “I got rid of her.”

The doctor reached out and grabbed Cat’s hand. “No you didn’t,” she told her. “When you hurt yourself, you only hit your daughter’s foot. We had to do intensive surgery, but you’re both going to be fine and hopefully the wound will heal by the time you give birth.”

Cat’s eyes widened with shock and she grinned from ear to ear. “I’m having a little girl?” she questioned excitedly. The doctor nodded in response with a smile and Cat squealed.

As soon as she did, Beck came running into the room. “Cat,” he called in desperation. “Are you okay?”

“I’m better than okay!” Cat exclaimed. “I’m having a little girl!”

Beck smiled brightly. “That’s amazing,” he breathed. “Jade’s having a little girl, too. And a little boy.”

Cat’s face fell at the mention of Jade’s name. “Can we not talk about her right now?” she asked as she turned to lay on her side. “I wanna be alone right now.”

The doctor got off Cat’s bed and motioned for Beck to go outside. Reluctantly, Beck followed her and the doctor closed the door. “We found her in a vacant room with a large wound inflicted on her stomach and two cuts across her wrists. Luckily, she didn’t do much damage to herself or the baby.” She eyed Beck intently. “Is there any reason why Miss Valentine would want to harm herself?”

Beck sighed and held his arms. “Her boyfriend left her when he found out she was pregnant,” he explicated. “Then her mom kicked her out of the house. And this guy she really liked was put in a coma for trying to protect her. A lot’s going on right now.”

The doctor nodded, taking in the information. “Well, we’d like to keep Caterina overnight to make sure the baby stays healthy,” she stated. “Tomorrow we’ll run some tests to see how she feels and, if all goes well, she should be released tomorrow night. Is there anywhere she can stay?”

Beck nodded. “I told her when she came to my place earlier that she could stay with me and I’d watch out for her,” he answered.

The doctor smiled. “That’s very sweet of you,” she said. “From the looks of it, Caterina is going to need a lot of support through and after her pregnancy.”


	13. Thank You

* * *

_“And when it gets the hardest, I truly promise to keep you by my side and say you will always carry on no matter the things they say will stay short.” – A Smile From the Trenches_

* * *

By the time Jade woke up, it was two in the afternoon. No one was beside her, holding her hand. The last time she was in a hospital bed, the night her mother died, someone was there for her. Someone had spent all night by her side, gripping her hand for dear life even as he fell asleep with his head barely resting on the bed.

Beck wasn’t here.

A heart monitor beeped beside her and she looked to it with sad eyes. Her heart rate was normal, but she felt like it was breaking. Did he think she was dead? He couldn’t. If, after that last text she sent, he thought she was in trouble, he would have come and tried to help her again. He would have tried to rescue her.

Maybe he didn’t care anymore.

Jade knew she was too much trouble for Beck anyway. Now she was from a dysfunctional family, she was pregnant with babies that might not even be his to add insult to injury, she wasn’t the nicest girl in the world, and she didn’t feel like living anymore. Thoughts of suicide had clouded her head for months now, and Beck wouldn’t want that; he wouldn’t want damaged goods.

And then it hit her.

Jade’s heart monitor began to race, beeping wildly, and she started thrashing around in her bed. Liam was near—she knew it—and she had to get away. She struggled in her bed, but she looked down to see a large burlap strap holding her chest down and another one holding her legs. Jade panicked more, feeling the straps press down harder as she tried to get out of them.

Two male nurses ran into the room and held Jade down. “You’re alright!” one of them shouted. “You’re okay! No one’s going to get you.”

His words filled Jade’s ears and she started to settle down as she digested each one. Her heart monitor quieted down as she realized that Liam wasn’t anywhere near him. She remembered that he went to jail last night.

When she finally settled down, the nurses let go of her. “You really need to calm down, Miss West,” the other one suggested. He was cuter and reminded her of Beck; she instantly hated him. “You’ll put your children at risk.”

“I don’t give a damn about my children!” she shouted reflexively. She was, in fact, tired of dealing with them.

“I do,” a voice announced from the door. Jade looked past the nurses as they turned around to see Beck standing in the doorway.

Her face lit up. “Beck!” she gasped. She tugged at the burlap straps and turned back to the nurses with a scowl. “Can you let me out of here?” she sniped. “I’m fine now.”

The nurses, upon hearing Jade’s voice, turned to look at her and looked at each other after she spoke. Skeptically, the first nurse looked back at her and spoke. “If you go crazy again,” he began, “It’ll be our asses.”

“I said I’m fine,” Jade growled.

Slight fear spread across the nurse’s face and both of them began untying her, the one that looked like Beck untying the strap around her ankles. When she was freed, they hurriedly exited the room, moving around Beck in fluid motions.

Jade sat up and instantly regretted it; her body hurt in multiple places and she felt the babies shift. “How did you know I was here?” she asked after a deep, pained breath.

Beck moved to her bed and sat beside her. “I was here when they brought you in,” he announced. He reached for her hand and she let him hold it, enjoying the warmth of his skin. “Cat and I were sitting in Robbie’s room.”

Jade’s eyes perked. “Where’s Cat?” she asked hurriedly. She didn’t know if her friend wanted to see her, but Jade wanted to see Cat. She wanted to at least apologize for everything she caused her brother to do.

Beck lowered his eyes for a moment before looking back up at Jade. “She’s on the fourth floor,” he told her. Jade gasped and held her mouth with her free hand. “She left Robbie so she could get something to eat, but she lied. She went into an empty room and tried to kill herself.”

Jade snatched her hand from Beck and laid back down, turning on her side and putting her back to him. She held herself tightly, trying not to cry. She really did it this time; she’d let her own problems grow so grotesquely that they’d lashed out and attacked her best friend. Jade had almost killed Robbie, and now she’d almost killed Cat…

Beck placed his hand on the top of Jade’s shoulder, rubbing his thumb in a gentle circle on her exposed skin from the hospital gown. “She’s okay,” he whispered. “It wasn’t your fault; she’s got a lot of stuff going on, too, and it just really got to her. But the doctors got to her in time and she’s okay; her baby’s just fine, too.”

Now, Jade let out little sobs. Beck could say it wasn’t her fault until it was his dying breath, but she knew deep in her heart that it truly was her fault. Whatever was happening to Cat before Liam came into the picture, Cat could handle it. She was managing it and doing fine. If Jade hadn’t come to get her, if Jade had never met her, Robbie never would have tried to stand up to a monster twice his size; Robbie wouldn’t be in a coma, and Cat wouldn’t had gone off the edge.

It was undoubtedly Jade’s fault that Cat wanted to die.

She wiped her eyes and sat up. “I want to see her,” she demanded as she met Beck’s gaze.

* * *

**_I’m not leaving ‘til I’ve won_ **

* * *

Walking was excruciating torture, but Jade desperately needed to see Cat. Beck had helped her out of bed and helped her walk with her IV up to the fourth floor. He had to practically hold her up as the rode in the elevator and she cried out in pain when it settled with a massive drop.

Jade moved slowly down the hall, and Beck led her to Cat’s room. When they got there, the door was slightly cracked and Jade could see through the window of the room that Cat was sleeping lightly. She looked peaceful, but the two large and red-tinted white bandages suggested otherwise. Beck tried to lead her forward, but Jade stepped back.

“I can’t do it,” she mumbled. “I can’t go in there.”

“Yes you can,” Beck assured her. He held her free hand and brought it to his lips, planting a soft kiss on it. “I know you can.”

Jade smiled weakly at him before taking in a deep breath. Slowly, she moved forward and gently pushed open the door. She softly knocked on the door and Cat stirred slightly.

She opened her eyes and looked to Jade. Her eyes grew wide with panic and she scooted back in her bed. “I need a doctor!” she screamed. “Somebody help!”

Jade flinched at Cat’s shrill voice and Beck rushed inside. “Cat, no,” he pleaded. “What’s wrong?” He placed his hands on her shoulder to keep her still.

She looked at him with hurt eyes and a tear strolled down her cheek. “I don’t want to see her,” she whispered.

“Why not?”

“Because she hurt Robbie,” Cat answered sternly, shooting an angered glare at Jade.

Jade felt herself break. Her body didn’t ache anymore, but her heart was being crushed. Her fear had come true: Cat hated her.

Tears brimming her eyes, Jade turned to leave.

“Wait,” Beck called out to Jade. He turned back to Cat. “Cat,” he breathed, “You know that Jade didn’t hurt Robbie. You saw that someone else came by my RV and hurt him.”

Cat looked away from Beck with a hard frown. “It was her fault that scary man came,” she declared quietly. She looked back to Jade with hurt confusion. “Why would you let your brother do that?!” she cried out.

“Cat,” Beck started tiredly.

“No,” Jade interrupted. Beck turned back to her. “Cat’s right.”

“What?” he asked, bewildered.

“It’s my fault Robbie’s in a coma,” she clarified. “I waited too long to tell anyone what he was doing and this happened. I just sat back and let this happen.” A tear started to fall, but Jade quickly wiped it away and looked away.

Beck moved to Jade and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. “It was _not_ your fault Robbie was put in a coma,” he stated firmly. “You didn’t _let_ your brother do anything; he chose to do what he did and he threatened you. You tried to get me and Cat away from him because you were trying to protect us. You made the choice to go back with him to keep him from attacking Cat. You didn’t let him hurt Robbie and you made sure he didn’t hurt Cat. It doesn’t matter how long you waited to tell anyone about what he was doing; it only matters that you told someone and got him sent away for what’s hopefully a long time.”

He wrapped an arm around Jade’s shoulders and gently pulled her into Cat’s room. He looked to Cat and sighed. “I know you’re angry, hurt, and scared,” he began, “But you have to realize that Jade didn’t ask for anything that happened to her. You didn’t ask for your mother to kick you out of your house; she did it because she was angry, and Jade’s brother is a very angry man.”

“But how can she just not say anything to him?” Cat inquired, her face still filled with pained confusion. “If he was hurting her, why couldn’t she leave him?”

Jade wiped away another tear. “Do you know what he did to me?” she questioned in a soft voice. Cat shook her head and Jade laughed scornfully. “It’s not easy to leave like you think it is,” she told her friend. “My brother…he did a lot of really bad things to me. For one thing, he did this to my face last night.”

Cat gasped softly, but let Jade continue.

“He had sex with me, against my will, at least two times a day; that’s called ‘rape,’ Cat. He beat me, cut me, and made me feel like I was a burden on everyone. That’s not what brothers do; that’s not what _any_ good person does.” Slowly, her hand moved to her stomach and she eyed the large bump with contempt. “He’s the father of my babies…”

Beck’s fingers instinctively tightened on her shoulder. When Jade told him the babies weren’t his, he figured it was someone in her family. When Liam had attacked Beck’s RV, Beck put two and two together. But hearing the words out loud cut him a little deeper this time. He wanted to leave the hospital right now and run to the prison where Liam was being held so he could beat the hell out of him. He wanted to do everything to Liam that Liam did to Jade and then some. That bastard took something from Beck, and the monster didn’t even know it.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Cat asked quietly after a brief silence.

Jade looked up with sad eyes. “He threatened to kill me,” she announced. “Then he threatened to kill Beck, and then he threatened to kill you.” Cat gasped loudly, covering her mouth with a bandaged hand. Jade nodded slightly and continued. “Last night…I just couldn’t take it anymore,” she said. “That was the worst he’d ever been and I couldn’t take it. I finally told the police, but I knew Liam would find out. But by then, I was ready to die. When he heard the police coming, he told me he’d give them a reason to lock him away, but I didn’t care anymore. Even if he killed me, he’d go to prison and you and Beck would be safe. It’s not easy to get away from someone who abuses you.”

Slowly, tears hitting her blanket, Cat sat up. She hissed in pain as she hit the scar on her stomach as she moved, but she continued to move. Using the bedposts for support, Cat pulled herself out of the bed. Beck hurried over to her and helped her stand. With his help, Cat moved to Jade and hugged her tightly, even though it hurt them both. She nuzzled her head onto Jade’s shoulder—or as close as she could get with her short height—and cried into Jade’s gown. Slowly and mindful of her IV, Jade hugged Cat back.

“I love you, Jade,” Cat whispered.

Jade laughed slightly, and tears of joy fell onto Cat’s shoulder. “I love you too, Cat.”

* * *

**_I’m not leaving ‘til I’ve won_ **

* * *

Around seven that night, the doctors had released Jade. By the time she was about to get dressed, Officer Meringues and two other officers knocked on her door. They asked her question to get her statement about what Liam had done to her, and Beck was there to hold her hand through it all because Cat was still being tested for her sanity. Before the officers left thirty minutes later, Officer Meringues told Jade that Liam was going to be tried in court; she could attend his hearing if she wanted to and—if she wanted to—she could testify against him. Clenching Beck’s hand tightly and without hesitation, she told the officers that she would testify in court. She was the only one who could make sure Liam got what he deserved.

When the officers left, Beck helped Jade get dressed and they spent another few minutes lying in Jade’s bed as they held each other. One hand rested on her stomach while the other wrapped around her protectively. He pressed his forehead to hers, letting her take in his warmth. “Even if it isn’t biologically,” he breathed, “These babies will always be mine.”

Jade smiled softly and closed her eyes. She sighed softly when she remembered what she was supposed to do today. “I missed my sonogram appointment,” she told quietly, hurt filling her voice. “I was supposed to find out what I’m having.”

Beck grinned widely. “If I had to guess,” he started in a joking manner, “I’d say you were having a little boy and a little girl…”

Jade gasped and her eyes grew wide, smiling as bright as her lips. “They told you?” she wondered. She grabbed his cheeks and kissed Beck deeply. “Oh my God,” she breathed. She closed her eyes, smiling contently. “I already picked out a girl’s name,” she pointed out. She opened her eyes and looked at Beck with a smirk. “I was hoping you could pick out the boy’s name.”

Beck laughed lightly and kissed Jade eagerly. “I’d love nothing more,” he whispered.

* * *

**_I’m not leaving ‘til I’ve won_ **

* * *

Before Jade had spoken to the officers, before she’d been released from the hospital, the doctors told Beck that Cat would be released around eight, because that was when she’d be done with her testing. After he and Jade talked about potential baby names for their son, they went back to the fourth floor to pick up their bubbling little redhead.

They found her in her room with the door open and her head down. She was dressed in what she’d worn the previous night and her nightgown was neatly folded on the corner of her bed. Her back rose and fell slightly and she was sobbing softly. Gently, Beck knocked on the doorframe. “Cat?” he called.

The sound of her name only made her cry harder. Beck let go of Jade’s hand and moved to her bed. He sat by her and placed his hand on her back. “What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.

Cat leaned her head on Beck’s shoulder and wiped one of her eyes. “My mommy called me,” she told him between sobs, “She…she asked me if I…still wanted to have my baby, and if I wanted to keep my baby. I said ‘I can’t give up my little girl’ and she started yelling at me. She…called me a little slut and said that my daughter was gonna grow up to be one, too.” She paused as a body racking sob took over, and she continued. “She told me that as long as I have my daughter, she never wants to see me again. I’m cut off from all the money she had saved for me to go to college. She’s gonna cut my phone off, too, because she doesn’t want to pay for it anymore. She said if Danny wanted me enough to get me pregnant that he’ll want me enough that he’ll pay for my phone so he can talk to me.”

Beck sighed and wrapped his arms around Cat. “I’m sorry,” he breathed. “I can see if my company will let me put you on and I’ll help you pay for it.”

Cat sniffled and rubbed her nose. “Thank you,” she exhaled. “I want to look for a job. I…I need one so I can take care of my daughter.”

Beck smiled and rubbed her arm with his thumb. “That’s very mature of you, Cat.”

* * *

**_I’m not leaving ‘til I’ve won_ **

* * *

“I don’t want you to stay at your house anymore,” Beck announced as he sat by Jade in the back of a cab.

Jade rolled her eyes. “I’m fine,” she assured him. “Liam’s locked away nice and tight. You don’t have to worry.”

“But I want to be with you wherever you are,” he said. “With your brother gone, you’ll be there by yourself. This far along in your pregnancy, you could get hurt really easily. What if that happens and you’re by yourself? I’m just trying to look out for you.”

Jade smiled contently and laid her head on his shoulder. “You’re a class act, Oliver,” she declared. “And that’s why I love you.” She grabbed his hand and locked her fingers in his.

“I love you, too,” Beck said, kissing the top of her hair. “So you’ll stay with me?”

“I like Jade’s house!” Cat exclaimed on the other side of Beck. “We can stay there, can’t we?”

Jade’s face fell, but she kept her head on Beck’s shoulder. She didn’t want to have to stay in Beck’s tiny RV, especially if there were going to be three people living in it. She and Cat would probably have to sleep in the same bed, and she and Cat would be fighting for space on the tiny bed. She didn’t want Beck to sleep on the floor either, and she liked it when he held her in his sleep. He wouldn’t be able to do that if he slept on the floor.

But how would the bed arrangement be if they stayed in Jade’s house? She would want to share her bed with Beck, but she also wouldn’t want Cat to be in a room by herself. She didn’t want Cat to stay in Liam’s room because that was gross. It was also closer to her father’s room and he had a habit of mixing up Liam’s room with his own. She didn’t want to risk her dad walking in on Cat trying to sleep. He had a habit of crawling into Liam’s bed, but he might get a little handsy if he found out a girl was in place of his son.

“Cat do you have your headphones?” Jade asked hurriedly.

“Yeah!” Cat answered happily. She fished for her phone in her pocket and found her headphones in the other pocket. She turned up the music as loud as it would go and let Jade talk. She did this all the time when Beck and Jade needed to talk and she couldn’t give them privacy.

“You know it’s not just me and my brother at home,” Jade reminded Beck once Cat had gotten herself situated. “How is this going to work? You know I want to go back to sleeping in the same bed with you. What if my dad comes home and something happens? I can’t worry about her in my sleep…”

“I’ll install some locks on your door,” Beck assured her. “She’ll be safe.”

Jade locked her fingers with Beck’s. “I don’t want anyone sleeping in Liam’s room,” she added. “It’s really…weird. My room’s kinda small, but we can fit another bed in there for her. You’d be able to put it in there right?”

“Your brother’s or a different one?”

“I think we could fit his in there, but I wanna flip the mattress and change the sheets. We might just have to put the beds together and make one giant bed…”

“I love giant beds!” Cat exclaimed after she gasped happily.

Jade’s head snapped around to face Cat with a disappointed scowl. “Were you listening to our conversation the whole time?” she accused.

Cat took out her earphones and looked at Jade. “What?” she asked.

Jade rolled her eyes and looked away. “Nothing,” she spat, “We’re done talking so you can turn your music off.”

“Kay, kay!” the bubbly redhead replied happily.


	14. Disloyal Order of the Water Buffalo

* * *

_“Fell outta bed, butterfly bandage, but don't worry, you'll never remember; your head is far too blurry. Put him in the back of a squad car; restrain that man. He needs his head put through a cat scan. Hey doctor, I'm certifiable. I'm a loose bolt of a complete machine. What a match, I'm half doomed and you're semi sweet.” – Fall Out Boy_

* * *

For the next three days, Beck and Cat made their home in Jade’s house. He had moved all of Cat’s things and even moved in some of his things. The night the girls were released from the hospital, Beck had gone to the local home improvement store and bought a new lock for Jade’s door, installing it himself the same night. Finally, the three of them moved Liam’s bed into Jade’s room—most of the work done by Beck—and Jade helped Cat make up the bed. Cat was happy with the giant bed and quickly fell asleep on it, curling up against a large pregnancy pillow she’d gotten before she told her mom about what happened.

And for the next three days, the three of them lived happily together because Jade’s father hadn’t bother coming home and Liam was locked tightly away in jail. There was no way he was getting out and that helped everyone sleep better at night.

* * *

**_Doc, there’s a hole where something was_ **

* * *

**Three days later.**

Cat was reluctant about going back to school because of the scars on her wrist, and she was ultimately glad no one could see the scar on her stomach. But she knew people would talk about her, and the thought of people talking about her made her upset. She made sure she didn’t let Jade see her cry, because she knew Jade would be talked about, too. Jade was stronger, and Cat knew that, but Cat also knew that words cut Jade, too, even if she didn’t show it as often.

Cat worried about Jade more than she worried about herself. It wasn’t easy to miss the scrapes on Jade’s face… But lucky for Jade, they weren’t deep enough to be permanent and makeup could cover them up for the most part. Cat could wear bracelets or ribbons on her wrist, but those things made her itchy and made too much noise; they would draw more attention than she wanted and people would know for sure what she’d done to her wrists.

Beck, Cat, and Jade walked side by side into Hollywood Arts, Beck’s arm draped protectively around Jade’s shoulders and Cat’s hand desperately clinging to Jade’s. Cat’s fake smile that she had plastered on her face as she sat in Beck’s truck on the way to school had now melted away into a frightened downturn. Her eyes darted back and forth as students began to look at the three of them. One girl turned to her friend and Cat could hear her whispers, even if she couldn’t make out the words.

More whispers floated to Cat’s ears and she heard a few people snickering as well. Her eyes began to water and she took in a deep breath. Her muscles tensed and her fingers tightened around Jade’s. Her legs shook slightly, itching to run away. She wanted to run to the bathroom, but people could still go in there and she would have to come out at some point. Maybe she could run to Beck’s truck and hide in there until school was over. Then he could take her back to Jade’s house where she’d stay until she had her baby. And maybe when she had her baby, her mom would see how beautiful her granddaughter is and take both of them back. Then they could move far away from Hollywood, taking Beck and Jade with them, so Cat wouldn’t have to be so scared anymore.

As Cat began to turn toward the front entrance, Jade spoke.

“What are you all looking at?” she sneered. People froze as fear overcame them. “Stop looking at us!” she screamed. A few girls shrieked at the venom in her voice and everyone turned away from the three peculiar students, trying to go back to what they were talking about before in case the scary girl was listening.

Jade nudged Beck slightly and she walked with him and Cat to their first classes. Cat’s muscles had calmed down and she could feel she was able to breathe again. She wasn’t scared anymore because she knew Jade would take care of her. She would make the mean people go away.

“Who do you think you are?” a girl’s voice called out, making sure everyone in the hallway heard her.

Jade snapped around to see a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl grimacing at her with her arms crossed. She stood at 5’10”, much taller than the average girl. She had a lean build, lean enough to be the captain of Hollywood Arts’ girls’ lacrosse team. Jade knew this girl, and she had hated this pitiful excuse for a human being since they were in middle school. This girl, Mackenzie Day, always had something to prove and always wanted to do it by showing Jade up.

“Excuse me?” Jade hissed, her eyes filling with angered disbelief.

“You heard me,” Mackenzie spat. “Who do you think you are, telling an entire school what to do? Where do you get off trying to make other people terrified of you so you won’t be ashamed of what you did?”

Jade tossed her head back with a sharp, mocking laugh and shrugged out of Beck’s grasp, subsequently releasing Cat’s hand. “And just _what_ did I do that I have to be so ashamed about?” Jade inquired.

Mackenzie smirked and stood a bit straighter. “You slept with your brother and got pregnant,” she accused. Collective gasps filled the hallway and everyone backed at least a step away from the scene, but circled around the girls and Beck.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jade stated, glaring daggers.

“Oh, I think I do,” Mackenzie denied. “We all know you’re messed up in the head, Jade, so it would make sense that you slept with him.” Her eyes looked to Cat and her smirk grew wider before her eyes returned to Jade. “You just couldn’t get enough incest and you got pregnant as a result. When your brother found out, he didn’t want you anymore and started playing with Cat. You got so jealous that he was into your friend that you sent him to jail, pretending he beat you.”

Without hesitation, Jade lunged for the foolish girl, her fist raised high. Luckily, Beck was there to hold her back this time. “Jade, no!” he pleaded.

“Let me go!” she screamed. “Let me go!” She thrashed in Beck’s arms, but he held her tightly, careful of her stomach.

“Jade!” Principal Helen boomed. Jade stopped thrashing, but Beck still held her. She breathed heavily, the adrenaline of her anger still coursing through her veins. Principal Helen turned to Mackenzie, who was pretending to be terrified of Jade and relieved that the principal was here to save her.

“She was going to hit me, Principal Helen!” Mackenzie cried, forced tears spilling down her face.

“And I don’t blame her,” Helen announced. Mackenzie gasped and stepped back. “I heard everything you said to her,” Helen continued. “You verbally attacked her, spreading false accusations of an issue you know nothing about. You wanted to get a rise out of Jade, and you wanted to hurt her.” The principal crossed her arms. “I have a very strict policy about bullying at this school. In my office, now.”

“But, Principal Helen—”

“Now!”

Mackenzie shrieked and scuttled down the hall into Principal Helen’s office. Wordlessly, Helen followed her and the throng of students dispersed. And when Jade finally calmed down, Beck released her. She turned back to speak to Cat, but the redhead was nowhere in sight.

* * *

**_Doc, there’s a hole where something was_ **

* * *

When Mackenzie attacked her, Cat felt sick to her stomach. The thought of Jade’s brother being inside her, being the father of her baby, was utterly revolting. She felt bad that Jade had to go through that, and she would probably kill herself it happened to her.

Mackenzie had no right to say those things. How could she be so mean and hurtful? Mackenzie and Jade had been enemies for years, so Cat understood Mackenzie’s assault on Jade. But Cat had never done anything to her. Why did she have to say those awful things?

When Jade had lunged for Mackenzie, everyone had shifted their attention to Jade, many of them hoping she would break free of Beck’s grasp and beat the crap out of that stupid girl. In the flurry of the almost fight, Cat was able to escape. As soon as she got the opportunity, Cat darted past the curious onlookers and ran to the girl’s bathroom.

Once in the bathroom, Cat rushed to the toilet and the wonderful breakfast Beck made for her and Jade went down the drain. The sound of her retching brought tears to her eyes; she thought she was over her morning sickness. Why did creating such a beautiful life have to hurt so much?

When Cat had emptied her stomach and flushed the toilet, she noticed hints of blood lingering on the toilet seat. Frantically, she grabbed some toilet paper and wiped at her mouth. When she pulled it away, she saw tiny dabs of blood.

_Everything’s okay_ , Cat assured herself. _I’m okay, we’re okay, nothing’s wrong…_

She quickly flushed the toilet paper and went to the sinks. She quickly turned on the water and splashed her face, desperately trying to get rid of the blood that could have been around her mouth. And when she dried her face with a scratchy paper towel, she looked at herself in the mirror.

The girl looking back at her was a stranger to Cat. Her hair still had red tints, but the roots and a lot more places were browning; she read that pregnant women aren’t supposed to dye their hair, so she told herself she wouldn’t do it. She wore her hair in a ponytail, so the red and brown blended together. Overall, though, her hair was a little oily even though she’d washed it that very morning. She didn’t wear any makeup, but that didn’t make a big difference. There was a ghost of a smile on her face, but her lips just wouldn’t curl up. Her skin was ‘glowing’ with sweat, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t stop sweating. The girl in the mirror wasn’t the happy Cat everyone knew, and Cat was terrified.

The bathroom door opened and Tori stepped inside. She had a very tiny baby bump, but no one would see it under the loose shirt she wore. She still looked like regular Tori, and Cat envied that.  Then again, Tori was only twelve weeks pregnant.

“Cat?” Tori whispered, a worried look etched into her face. “Are you okay?”

Cat laughed softly as she turned back to the mirror. “I don’t know what that word means anymore,” she replied honestly. She grabbed a paper towel and wiped off her face. “Hopefully things will be better when I have my baby…”

Tori beamed brightly. “I’m glad you brought the baby up,” she announced. “I was gonna wait until lunch, but you look like you could use some cheering up.”

“I guess,” Cat announced with a shrug. A small smile broke out. “I like cheering up.”

“I know you do,” Tori agreed as she bounced on her heels. She placed her hands on Cat’s shoulders. “I talked to my parents, and they’re gonna let me throw you and Jade a baby shower!”

Cat gasped in excitement. “Really?” she exclaimed.

“Really!” Tori assured her. “It was easy to convince my dad because of everything that’s been happening. My mom’s really excited, too.”

Cat smiled brightly. “I can’t wait!” She gasped loudly. “Maybe Robbie will be awake by then and he can come, too!”

Tori’s grin fell. “Maybe…” she whispered, her eyes looking away.

* * *

**_Doc, there’s a hole where something was_ **

* * *

The thought of Robbie coming to her baby shower kept Cat feeling happy for the rest of the morning. Potentially, he could wake up at any minute and she would run into his arms. She would be happy with him and he would love her and her daughter. They wouldn’t have to worry about anything and life would be blissful.

When she was sitting in her second period class, however, the bliss melted away.

Her phone, the one she’d had before she smashed hers against Tori’s wall, vibrated in her pocket. It was uglier than her other one and was an awkward little rectangular shape. When she was in the hospital and close to being released, she called her phone company to switch back to her old phone; her mother taught her how to do it in case Cat messed up her phone like her brother did on a regular basis. She was tempted to break this one after her mother called her and, after looking at this text message, realized she should have.

Danny’s name flashed slightly on her phone and Cat held her breath.

**_Cat, can we talk?_ **

Her hand shot to her stomach and her breath came out in a staggering sob. After what he said to her, after what he did, he wanted to talk to her. And what would he say? He’d already told her he didn’t want to be with her, that he didn’t want to raise their baby together. Maybe he wanted to know what she was having. Maybe…he wanted to take the baby from her because his mom wanted it.

“Cat?” her teacher, Ms. Freeman, called. “Are you okay?” All the other students turned back to the little redhead and Cat shrank in her seat, clinging to her phone under her desk. Their eyes burned holes into her from all sides, waiting for her answer.

“Cat?” Ms. Freeman called again.

The pressure was too much. She wouldn’t be able to lie to them. She felt like if she opened her mouth again, she would start sobbing uncontrollably. So she did the only thing she could think of: she ran.

She jumped from her seat and ran out the door, leaving all her belongings behind as Ms. Freeman called after her. No one followed her, so that’s good. The bathroom was closer, but she didn’t want to go back there. People would assume she was going there, and she didn’t want them to find her. So she would run to the place she wanted to go earlier.

But before she could make it to Beck’s truck, Cat ran to the nearest trash can and threw up. She found that the morning sickness was worse when she was upset. Lately, she’d been having terrible morning sickness. On top of that, her little bundle of joy wanted to kick and rumble around in her tummy, making the nausea worse.

When she regained her composure, Cat walked out to Beck’s truck, clinging to herself tightly.

* * *

**_Doc, there’s a hole where something was_ **

* * *

Cat set up camp in the back of Beck’s truck, lying across the backseat and playing music on her phone without the headphones. Now that her baby started kicking, she would flutter around like a butterfly; she would flutter so hard that Cat thought the little girl would fly right out of Cat’s stomach. But when Cat played music, her little girl would settle down and she’d be able to sit peacefully. It was weird to her to have something moving around inside her, but she liked it a little; she could only handle it a little at a time, though.

Now, with her phone on her stomach playing a soft song from a Canadian band Beck introduced her to, her daughter moved slightly, as if reaching out to her mother’s music player. Cat smiled slightly and closed her eyes, letting the music fill her ears.

For a moment, the music stopped playing and the phone vibrated slightly on Cat’s stomach. She picked up her cell and saw Danny’s name flashing on the screen.

**_Cat, please answer me. It’s really important._ **

Cat sighed and opened the message so she could close it and turn her music back on. She wasn’t going to talk to him again if her life depended on it. She didn’t want to hear anything he had to say. She sighed again as the Canadian ballad filled her ears and closed her eyes again. Maybe he would take the hint and stop trying to talk to her if she didn’t answer.

She must have fallen asleep, because she woke up some time later to her phone ringing on her belly. She looked at the phone and saw Jade’s picture staring back at her. She giggled happily and answered the call. “Hi, Jade!”

_“Cat, where are you?” she asked, her tone not as chipper._

“Why?” the redhead questioned. “What time is it?”

_“It’s lunch time,” Jade answered. “And you’re not here. Where are you?”_

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Cat told her. “I’m in the bathroom.”

_Cat could practically hear Jade scowling on her end of the phone. “Why are you lying to me, Cat?” she questioned, raising her voice slightly. “You know I don’t like it when you to me. We checked the bathrooms all over school and you weren’t in any of them.”_

“Why are you acting funny, Jade?” Cat accused. “I’m in a bathroom like I said.”

_“Stop lying to me!” Jade screamed. Cat heard voices on the other end of the line and Jade—she assumed—took a deep breath. “Just…come to lunch,” she ordered as she calmed down. “We want you here with us.”_

“I’ll be there in a minute like I said,” Cat reminded before hanging up the phone. With a long, drawn out sigh, she sat up and got out of Beck’s truck. She moved quickly to the Asphalt Café after returning to her empty second period classroom to get her things.

“Where have you been?” Jade demanded as she looked up at Cat. Andre, Tori, and Beck looked up to her with slightly worried glances. 

“I was in a teacher’s bathroom,” Cat lied. “My tummy got upset, but I didn’t want you to get upset over me.”

“I don’t like you lying to me,” Jade repeated, narrowing her eyes. Beck placed his hand on hers and she turned back to him.

Cat sat down across the table from Jade and Beck, sitting close to Tori. “I’m not lying to you,” she breathed. “I had that sickness you talked about.”

“Morning sickness?” Jade offered with a raised eyebrow.

Cat nodded. “Yeah, that,” she said. She smiled brightly. “But I’m all better now!”

“So I have good news,” Tori announced skeptically, trying to change the subject.

Jade narrowed her eyes. “The last time you said that,” Jade pointed out, “You told us you were pregnant. You really have a skewed perception of ‘good’ news.”

Tori grimaced. “This is actually good news,” she claimed. She smiled widely. “I talked it over with my parents, and they’re going to help me throw a double baby shower for you and Cat!”

Jade rolled her eyes. “I guess that’s okay news,” she allowed. She picked at her pizza with a grimace.

Much to her dismay, Cat’s phone vibrates in her pocket again. She groans loudly, gaining looks from everyone at the table and ignores the nuisance in her pocket.

“Are you alright, Cat?” Beck asked.

Cat nodded with a bright grin. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

* * *

**_Doc, there’s a hole where something was_ **

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Cat had been working at The Book Palace to bring in a little money. Obviously, there wasn’t much a girl far along in her pregnancy could do, but it was better than nothing. Like he said, Beck switched Cat over to his phone plan and helped her pay the bill so it wouldn’t get turned off. When Cat’s mother saw that there was a little less money she had to pay on her bill, she thought about calling her daughter; she thought about checking up on her, to see if the little bastard that got her pregnant was being a man about what he’d done. But then she remembered that she had to stick by what she said; she was not going to be put through what she put her own mother through.

Danny continued to try and contact Cat, but she continued to ignore him. It started out with one-liner text messages and quickly progressed to paragraph messages. Soon he began sending her as many as twenty messages a day. He started calling her at night, too, but she never answered the calls. He left her long, heartfelt voice messages, professing his love for her. One day he left so many voice messages that he’d filled up her voicemail. Cat never listened to any of the messages, though, because she knew they would make her cry. Instead, she just deleted them as quickly as she could before Beck or Jade noticed she was upset.

Jade was starting to act weird, too.

She seemed a lot angrier than usual, but she chalked that up to the pregnancy hormones. Her own pregnancy hormones threw her emotions back and forth like a tennis match, but they also made her more observant of the things around her. Jade, however, definitely seemed angrier, but she also seemed a little paranoid. Every time Cat was out of her sight, Jade would call her or text her, demanding to know where her little redhead friend was. And just like that day at the Asphalt Café, Jade would claim Cat was lying, even if she was actually telling the truth. Jade was starting to scare Cat, mainly because she was beginning to act like that mean man that Jade said was her brother.

And exactly three weeks after the incident in the Asphalt Café, Cat found out about Jade’s court date.

The morning started out normal, the three of them getting ready for school. Cat went about her normal morning routine and ate a breakfast consisting of cereal, eggs, and peanut butter grits. She heard noises coming from a different part of the house—somewhat like a man who had a really bad headache—but she tried not to think about it. After eating, she climbed in the backseat of Beck’s truck and waited for her friends to join her.

When Beck and Jade got in, Jade was quieter than usual and Beck seemed to grip the steering wheel a little tighter. Then he missed the exit that would take them to Hollywood Arts.

“Where are we going?” Cat asked as she observed the passing trees and signs.

“The jail,” Beck answered quietly.

“Why are we going there?”

“Because Jade has a court date.”

At first it didn’t register to Cat. “Why does Jade have a court date?” she inquired. At first, Beck didn’t speak and Jade still hadn’t said a word. Both of them were quiet like they were hiding something. Then, it hit her. Cat gasped loudly and started thrashing in the backseat.

“No!” she screeched. “I don’t want to go! I don’t want to see the scary man again! Don’t make me go!”

“ _Cat_!” Jade yelled, snapping around to the girl in the backseat. “Be quiet! I don’t want to go any more than you do, but I _have_ to. Then he’s gonna be put away for a long time. You can sit in the back of the court room so he doesn’t see you, but you’re going to be there, got it?”

Cat turned away from Jade, tears rolling down her cheeks and arms crossed. She didn’t want to have to look at that bastard, but there wasn’t really a way that she could get away from it all. If she decided to leave the courthouse and sleep in the back of Beck’s truck again, Jade would get really angry and Cat didn’t want to hear that again.

The rest of the ride was deadly silent, and no one bothered to play any music. Jade sat with her arms crossed and her gaze locked on the road in front of her, even though she wasn’t really _looking_ at the road. Beck gripped the steering wheel tighter and tighter as they neared the courthouse and Cat saw that his knuckles were starting to turn white with strain. His jaw set into a tight grimace and Cat couldn’t remember the last time she saw him getting this mad.

Cat had never been to a courthouse before, not that she had a real reason for going. Whenever her brother did something, it was her mother who went to bail him out, leaving little Cat at home. The place was huge, probably twice the size of Hollywood Arts. Photos of Lady Liberty and symbols of justice hung on all the walls. Two American flags framed each door inside the courthouse and Jade led her to a door that looked smaller than the other, large structures. When the door opened, Cat noticed how the room was bigger than she assumed it would be.

There were pews on her left and right, with a separation in the middle for people to walk through. The pews were separated by a small wooden fence that came up to Cat’s waist, and two tables sat on the other side of the fence. The judge’s post stood at the far end of the room with the witness stand glowing in the fluorescent light.

There were already people sitting in the pews and more were filing in. She’d never seen any of them before, and she wondered why they were all here for Jade’s case. Beck gave Jade a quick kiss and told her he loved her before leading Cat to a spot in the middle of the set of pews on the right. She sat close to him, clenching his hand for support.

Other people had cases before Jade’s did. Some of them were custody battles, and some involved men in orange jumpsuits coming out from a door by the judge’s post to talk. Cat tried to focus on what was going on, but she couldn’t shake the fear of seeing Liam again. What if he saw her? What would he do? Would he lash out at everyone? Would he hurt Beck if he tried to protect her? Would the big bailiff be able to hold Liam back?

When the judge called Jade’s name, she took a seat at one of the front tables and a new set of men in neatly pressed suits entered the room. Two of them sat on either side of Jade while the other sat at the table on the left by himself. A few moments later, a prison guard brought out the pitiful excuse for a man. Cat clenched Beck’s hand a little tighter when she saw him and, unfortunately, caught Liam’s eye. With a sick grin, he winked at Cat. The people in front of her looked around to see who this prisoner was winking at.

Cat couldn’t remember what happened during the case. She was too worried about Liam and what he was going to do. No matter what, she kept her eyes locked on him, watching and waiting for his every move. Then, something was said that really upset him. He jumped out of his seat beside the man in a gray suit and the bailiff ran over to him to restrain him. The judge barked something at him, but fear flooded Cat’s ears as she shrank into Beck. She wanted to run as far away from the courthouse as possible, but her body was planted in that pew. Her legs shook and she pulled her hoodie tighter around herself.

She calmed down when the bailiff and the prison guard escorted Liam out of the room.

“…and a restraining order is being put out for Mr. West,” the judge announced. “Should he come within two hundred feet of you, you have the authority to call the police and defend yourself if need be. Should he be released on probation, he is not allowed to be within the aforementioned radius. You will be notified of his probation hearing within the next two years, but you will not be required to attend or be a witness. Is that clear, Miss West?”

Jade nodded eagerly. “Yes, Your Honor,” she breathed. Cat could feel the happiness radiating from Jade’s voice. Maybe something good happened; maybe they were really putting him away for a long time!

Cat let go of Beck when the judge dismissed Jade’s case and Jade stood up. Jade, when she was allowed to leave the two tables at the front of the courtroom, ran to Beck and hugged him tightly, kissing him deeply. She then proceeded to hug Cat a little less tightly and the three of them left the courthouse to head to school.

The ride there was pleasant, and it felt like the tension had finally been cut. Cat hoped that this meant good things were on the way.

 

**Jade: 26weeks**

**Cat: 20 weeks**

**Tori: 15 weeks**


	15. Put Me Out

* * *

_“You bought your smile in a corner; you paid a pretty little penny, you did. You paint yourself in a picture as you deny the kind of person you've been. You sharpen your guilt like a guillotine. You get what you feel. I gave you everything, you threw it away. Put me out like a cigarette.” – The Used_

* * *

After Liam had been taken to jail, Jade hadn’t really felt better. She still felt on edge, even worried about what her father would do if he came home. Luckily, he’d been away almost every night, or came home ridiculously late and crashed in his bed. She still had that nagging feeling that something wasn’t right, though.

And with her pregnancy hormones raging, she started to get angry at everything, angrier than usual. Sometimes, even the sound of Beck breathing as he lay beside her at night agitated her and made her want to hold the pillow over his face.

When Jade wasn’t angry, she spent her time worrying about Cat. Cat had trouble sleeping, always crying and waking up in the middle of the night demanding to go see Robbie. She also had this habit of separating herself from her friends. Jade didn’t want to let the redhead out of her sight, and Cat was starting to have a habit of disappearing. Sometimes, she would yell at Cat and she had an ever-growing suspicion that Cat was lying to her. She needed to keep track of Cat at all times, and she couldn’t do that if Cat didn’t want to cooperate.

And if Jade wasn’t worrying over Cat, she was dealing with people. She had to deal with the looks and whispers from the kids at school and she even had to deal with that dreadful Mackenzie Day. But, the principal took care of her and the little worm got suspended for a whole week. She had to deal with Tori being her usual chipper self as well, despising her even more now that the Latina was pregnant. Though it was Tori’s only redeeming quality to throw a double baby shower, she didn’t like the idea of a party. But she would suffer through it for Cat’s sake, because she knew the small girl would love a baby shower and Jade wouldn’t be able to throw one for her.

Now, three weeks after Liam’s incarceration, she was going to have to stand trial for the crimes he committed.

“Where are we going?” Cat asked as she noticed Beck missing the exit that would take them to school.

“The jail,” Beck answered quietly from the front seat.

“Why are we going there?” she panicked.

Beck reached for Jade’s hand and held it, running his thumb across the back of her hand. “Because Jade has a court date,” he answered a little louder.

There was a moment of silence and Jade held her breath. She didn’t want to tell Cat what was going to happen, but she wouldn’t be able to avoid it forever. She would have to go to the courthouse and Jade sure as hell wasn’t going to let her stay in the truck as hot as it was or at home where Jade’s father could unexpectedly drop by.

“Why does Jade have a court date?” Cat finally inquired after the short silence. Beck didn’t answer her this time and Jade exhaled slightly. She still couldn’t bring herself to answer her friend, even as the courthouse grew closer and closer.

And then…

Cat gasped loudly and started thrashing in the backseat. Jade clenched Beck’s hand and her knee tightly. This was about to happen, and Jade was bracing herself for the worst. “No!” Cat screeched. “I don’t want to go! I don’t want to see that scary man again! Don’t make me go!” She kicked Beck’s seat a few times as she thrashed, causing him to lurch the car slightly and made Jade a little bit angrier.

“ _Cat_!” Jade yelled, snapping around to the girl in the backseat. “Be quiet! I don’t want to go any more than you do, but I _have_ to. Then he’s gonna be put away for a long time.” She scowled as she paused. “You can sit in the back of the courtroom so he doesn’t see you, but you’re going to be there, got it?”

Cat turned away from Jade and Jade snapped back to her original position. The twins started fluttering, and they must have bumped into each other, because both of her sides started to hurt and it felt like tiny heads rubbed against them. She held her sides as the pain overtook her, but she didn’t let it show on her face. She also didn’t make a sound; she didn’t want Beck to worry for her any more than he was already doing.

* * *

**_You can't live sarcastic sincerity_ **

* * *

Jade had been to the courthouse only once in her life; when she was seven, her father had gotten so drunk that he beat up a random man on the street and had a hearing that put him in jail for two months. She didn’t want to be here now, and the place didn’t look like she remembered. It was smaller now, but still large; it was about twice the size of Hollywood Arts. She remembered seeing the large statue of Justice in front of the courthouse, as well as the various symbols and photos of Lady Liberty hanging on the walls. Two American flags framed each door inside the courthouse, and they all looked relatively new.

Jade led them down the hall to a smaller door and opened it to reveal a large crowd of people sitting in pews separated by a large walkway. The pews were separated from the judge’s post and the witness stand by a wooden fence as tall as Cat’s waist. Jade gave Beck a quick kiss before leading Cat away to the middle of the pews on the right where there was empty space. Reluctantly, Jade made her way to the very first pew on the left side. People whispered to each other as they watched the extremely pregnant teenager walk down the aisle of the courtroom, and she would sneer and glare at them if they caught her eye.

She took her seat as more people started to file in, and no one decided to sit right beside her even as the other pews became crowded. That was okay, though; Jade didn’t want anyone breathing or sweating on her anyway. It was ridiculously hot in the courtroom and all the weight she was carrying made Jade even hotter. If any more people piled into the room, she might actually break into a sweat.

After a few minutes, an overweight bailiff entered the room. “All rise for the honorable Judge Crawford,” he ordered. Though it was a struggle, Jade stood. Then, a tall skinny woman with wiry brown hair walked into the room from the same door the bailiff came out of. She stepped up to the judge’s post and sat down. Wordlessly, everyone else but the bailiff mimicked her and sat back down in the pews. Jade stifled groans as her body creaked with the extra weight and clung to the pew for support.

Over the course of two, _agonizing_ hours, Jade sat there, listening to the pathetic sob stories of people who had cases before hers. There were custody battles between people who looked like children themselves, domestic violence cases where alcohol was involved, and property disputes. The majority of the cases were misdemeanors and civil court cases, but she paid very little attention to the felonies and criminal court cases, waiting for her own to arrive. All of defendants and plaintiffs in each case were crying or red in the face, and a lot of them swore, causing the tiny judge to get angry and threaten them with contempt for court disruption. She thought her case would never arrive and she thought she would be stuck in that courtroom forever, or until Liam broke free and killed her. She’d spent hours going over what she would say and what questions she might be asked, but she doubted she would even need to use any of her preparations.

“Case 239,” Judge Crawford finally called out as she read from a piece of paper. She looked up at the mass of people. “Jade West vs. Liam West. Bailiff, please bring out the plaintiff and, Ms. West, please step up to the table on the left.” When Jade pushed herself up off the pew, holding the small of her back to help steady herself, a few more whispers rose and the judge brought down her gavel. “Remain silent in this courtroom unless spoken to,” she demanded.

Everyone stopped talking and Jade moved to table she was instructed to sit at as a lawyer took the seat beside her. Another lawyer took a seat at the empty table on the right. Twelve jury members entered the room from a door beside the witness stand and sat in their own sectioned pews. Men and women alike sat tiredly at the side of the courtroom, waiting for this day to be over so they could go back to their meaningless, mundane lives.

As the door the bailiff and the judge entered through opened, Jade felt her blood run cold. As Liam walked through the door, Jade’s breath caught in her throat. Every wicked thing he’d ever done replayed in her mind as she looked upon his scraggy, unshaven face. And now, in his orange jumpsuit and shaggy brown hair, he looked like Ted Bundy or some other terrifying serial killer. He looked out to Jade and sneered at her. Then, he looked out into the crowd and a sick grin spread across his face. He winked, and Jade instantly knew Liam had caught sight of Cat. She clenched her teeth and balled her fists, ready to punch him until he couldn’t bleed anymore. He wore an orange jumpsuit and shackles on his hands and feet; she was sure she could take him down, but she also knew that she was in a court of law and couldn’t do the things she wanted.

“Mr. West,” Judge Crawford began with a tired look in her eyes, “You are being tried for the assault and impregnation of your sister.” A few people gasped in disgust, but the judge talked over them. “Should you plead ‘guilty,’ the trial will end in a one month sentence as well as a temporary restraining order as well as the possibility of posting bail. Should you plead ‘not guilty’ and be found guilty, you will be sentenced to a longer stay in prison, a permanent restraining order, and no chance of bail. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty,” he answered with the most innocent face he could muster.

“Liar!” Jade screamed, shooting up in her seat.

Liam remained calm and kept his eyes forward, while Judge Crawford brought down her gavel once more. “Settle down, Ms. West,” she demanded. “One more outburst and I will have you removed from my court and your case put on hold until you learn how to control yourself.”

Jade lowered her head with a deep scowl and sat down, biting back all the profanities she wanted to throw at the wiry woman.

“We will begin with opening statements,” Judge Crawford stated. “The prosecution may proceed.”

Jade’s lawyer, appointed by the state of California, stood up. He stood tall with a full head of hair and a broad build. He was already sweating under the fluorescent light and the back of his neck was a deep red. “As many of you do, I myself have an older brother,” he started, “Our siblings are meant to support us and guide us through life, working together with us as we journey through the vast unknown. But for Jade West, her brother is a source of terror and misery. Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defendant, Liam West, has violated my client on multiple occasions, thus resulting in her pregnancy. Three weeks ago, while Miss West was at her partner’s residence, the defendant broke in and attacked her, as well as two young men. As a result of the defendant’s actions, seventeen year old Robert Shapiro has been comatose for nearly a month. Miss West has put out a restraining order, as you know, that will prevent him from coming into contact with her and her unborn children.”

Jade’s lawyer sat down and Judge Crawford looked to the other lawyer. “Would the defense like to make a statement?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Liam’s lawyer answered in a meek voice. He was nearly as wiry as the judge and had several bald spots, but he still looked like a better lawyer than Jade’s. He stood up and looked to be about Jade’s height. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you to remember that there is no true way to determine the father of those children until they are born. My client is a veteran, a loyal servant to this great country, _not_ a pervert or a pedophile. The accusations against my client are false and irrational, the fabrications of a teenage girl afraid to admit that she became pregnant by her partner out of fear of what her father would do. With this trial, I intend to prove that my client is, in fact, not guilty and has been unjustly treated.”

Without another word, he sat down and the judge looked over her paperwork. “We will now proceed to the presentation of evidence,” she announced. “The prosecution may proceed.”

Jade’s lawyer rose and stepped away from the table. He picked up his briefcase and placed it on the table. Unlocking it, he pulled out plastic bags full of foreign objects and letter cards. He put his briefcase on the ground after closing it and set up the evidence. The first three bags contained papers, tightly sealed away, and were labeled A, B, C, respectfully. The final bag, labeled D, contained a black mass that only Jade would be able to see. Catching a glimpse of the fabric, Jade looked away and forced herself not to look back at it.

“Your Honor,” her lawyer started, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you four pieces of evidence that will prove the defendant guilty. Evidence A, B, and C contain records from the free women’s clinic, the hospital, and the LAPD, respectfully. Evidence D contains a casual sex toy forced upon Ms. West.”

“Call your first witness,” Judge Crawford ordered.

“I’d like to call my client, Jade West, to the stand.”

With a quiet sigh, Jade stood up and moved slowly to the witness stand. She stopped when she reached the bailiff and his bible. “Please place your right hand on the bible and hold up your left hand. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

“I do,” Jade answered with a nod. Then she took her hands back and sat at the witness stand.

Jade’s lawyer stepped in front of her. “Please state your name, age, and occupation for the court.”

“Jade West, eighteen, high school student.”

“Now, Jade—can I call you Jade?—you claim your brother, Liam West, both physically and sexually assaulted you. Is this correct?”

“Yes.”

“About when did the assault happen?”

“The physical abuse happened two years ago,” Jade answered. “But the sexual abuse started six and a half months ago.”

“Describe the first time your brother physically assaulted you,” the lawyer instructed.

Jade looked at her hands and looked back to the lawyer after taking a deep breath. “After our mother’s funeral,” she began quietly. “My father spent most of his nights in bars. The night of the funeral after we went home, my brother got…really angry. He’d come home the week before the funeral and he was still shaken up by what happened overseas. After the funeral had really set in our mother’s death, he kind of…snapped. It started…with him calling me names and they made me cry because he blamed me for what happened; I blamed myself, too, but I didn’t want to hear it from him. I guess I wasn’t giving him the responses he wanted, so he punched me in the face. He kept hitting me and I tried to make him stop, but that only made him angrier. Eventually he started punching me and when I hit the ground, he started kicking me. I don’t remember him stopping, but I know I woke up the next morning with caked blood on my face.”

“You said your brother blamed you for your mother’s death,” the lawyer repeated. “Why would he do that?”

Jade sighed. “When I was sixteen,” she started. “I was heavily interested in acting, more so than I am now. I was rehearsing for this play, _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_ , and I was supposed to be Lysander because our director wanted to take a new approach to the play. It was our second rehearsal and it was raining that day. My brother was still at war, my father had a meeting he couldn’t end early, and my car was in the shop because of its radiator, so my mom was the only one who could come get me. I told her I she didn’t have to come get me and that I could go home with my boyfriend, but she said she wanted to come get me since it was on her way home; she even promised me ice cream.

“Long story short, my mom slid off the road into another car and I was the only one who…you know. I should have insisted that she didn’t pick me up, but she was always really stubborn and didn’t like to take ‘no’ for an answer. I hated myself for not being as stubborn as she was, that I was still alive, and Liam hated me too.”

“Are you still in a relationship with the boy you dated when you were sixteen?” the lawyer asked, showing little emotion toward Jade’s story.

“Yes,” Jade answered.

“Has he ever come into contact with the defendant?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell the court of the circumstances?”

Jade looked out to the crowd of people and spotted Beck smiling weakly at her. Cat sat close beside him with her eyes focused in Jade’s direction, but not on Jade.

“The night I called the police,” she began, “Liam…assaulted me again because I lied to him. When he… _raped_ me again, I told myself I wasn’t going to go through this anymore, and I knew I needed to get my boyfriend and my best friend, because he’d threatened to hurt them. I went over to his RV and told them to get all their things, but my brother came by. He knocked my boyfriend out and tried to attack my friend, but our other friend, Robbie, tried to protect her. He stood in front of her and challenged Liam, but Liam hit him, too, and put him in a coma.”

A tear started to well up in her eye, but she quickly wiped it away. “He only wanted me,” she continued, “So I went with him to keep him from hurting my best friend.”

“Is your best friend here?”

“Yes,” Jade answered reluctantly, “But she tried to kill herself because of other things happening in her own life. She can’t come up here; I can’t let her do that.”

Judge Crawford banged her gavel loudly and the sound resonated through the small courtroom. “I decide who can and cannot come up to the witness stand,” she declared with authority. “If your friend witnessed events of the crime and is present, she will need to testify. However, considering your claim of her mental health, she will not need to testify; in order for her statement to stand in court, we would need a record of her time in a facility designed to deal with those with special needs. Was that the only time your friend had come in contact with the defendant?”

“She’d seen him force me into his car one day at school,” Jade announced, “But other than that, yes.”

“Proceed with the witness evaluation.”

“Jade, would you ever try to cover up an unplanned pregnancy?” Jade’s lawyer continued.

“No.”

“Would you lie if your boyfriend was the father of your children?”

Jade laughed softly. “No,” she claimed. “I’d be the happiest person in the world.”

“Is your boyfriend here?”

“Objection!” Liam’s defense attorney shouted as he stood up. “The plaintiff clearly stated that her boyfriend had been unconscious during the supposed attack.”

“Sustained,” Judge Crawford allowed. She turned to Jade’s lawyer. “Any further questions?”

“No, Your Honor.”

“Miss West, you may step down. Call your next witness.”

“I’d like to call the defendant, Liam West, to the stand.”

As Jade stood, so did Liam. She moved away from the witness stand and Liam passed her as he walked by, sneering slightly. Jade ignored him and went back to her seat. While Liam was being sworn in, she looked back at Beck who mouthed ‘good job’ to her. She breathed out softly.

“Mr. West,” Jade’s lawyer began, “What branch did you serve under?”

“I was part of the 1st Marine Regiment in the Camp Pendleton base at Oceanside,” Liam answered.

“Were you stationed overseas?”

“Yes.”

“If found ‘not guilty,’ would you be going back?”

Liam paused for a moment. “No,” he finally answered.

“And why not?”

Liam scowled and narrowed his eyes at the lawyer. “I was discharged,” he told him.

“For what?”

“Objection!” Liam’s lawyer shouted. “The attorney is badgering the defendant and that question has nothing to do with this case!”

“Overruled,” the judge shouted, banging her gavel again. “Mr. West, answer the question.”

“I shot several men on our ship,” Liam begrudgingly answered. “They were enemy spies, but no one believed me. They discharged me because they thought I wasn’t right in the head.” He tapped his temple with his right forefinger and his chains clanked slightly. “I’m just fine.”

“Do you deny the allegations placed upon you by Miss West?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“She has a reputation for lying,” Liam declared. “She skips school, sleeps around and only cares about herself.”

“Is that why she’s still pregnant?” the lawyer asked sarcastically.

Liam smirked. “If she wasn’t,” he began darkly. “That would be a sin. We come from a God-fearing home, and she wouldn’t be welcome in our house if she got rid of the babies.”

“So as a God-fearing man,” the lawyer began suspiciously, “You would find it a sin to sleep and procreate with your own sister?”

“Well, of course, Your Honor,” Liam answered innocently. “I would never want to sleep with my sister or have children with her.”

The lawyer scowled and moved to the evidence table where Jade sat impatiently. He picked up the bag behind card D and returned to the witness stand. “Tell me what this is,” the lawyer demanded in a calm voice.

“That’s a pair of vibrating underwear,” Liam retorted. He smirked. “I’m afraid they’re not my size, sir.”

Judge Crawford brought the gavel down again. “Mr. West,” she called loudly. “You will take this court case seriously or I’ll have you put in jail until you rot. Do you understand?”

Liam nodded and flashed a flirting smile to her. “Yes, Your Honor.”

“Is it true you bought these and forced your sister to wear them the night you were taking into captivity?” the lawyer asked once Liam had finished speaking.

Liam raised an eyebrow. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Answer the question, Mr. West,” the lawyer demanded angrily.

“No,” Liam snarled, annoyed by the question. “I didn’t. I refuse to go into _Spencer’s_ for anything.”

“I didn’t ask you where they came from,” the lawyer announced, cracking a small smile. “Nor did I say where they came from.”

Liam shrugged, unfazed. “Doesn’t matter,” he said. “I didn’t buy them and I didn’t force her to wear them.”

Jade sighed softly to herself and rested her head on her hand. She had no doubt in her mind that Liam would lie in court, and it wasn’t looking like she was going to win this case.

The lawyer grimaced. “Do you deny hitting your sister and sending her to the hospital on more than one occasion?” he asked, growing more annoyed by the second.

“I didn’t do it,” Liam claimed.

“Do you deny that you are the cause behind the cuts, burns, scars, and bruises on Miss West?”

“I do.”

The lawyer scowled. “No further questions, Your Honor,” he spat. He turned around. “I would like to call Gabriel Meringues to the stand.”

“Mr. West,” Judge Crawford started, “You may step down from the witness stand. Mr. Meringues, please step forward.”

As the prison guard that had walked Liam in stepped up to bring the prisoner back to his seat, Meringues stepped forward and swore himself in before sitting at the witness stand.

“State your name and occupation for the court,” Jade’s lawyer inquired.

“Gabriel Meringues, police officer for the LAPD,” Meringues announced.

“Your name was filed on the police reports, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How many encounters have you had with Miss West?”

“Two,” Meringues retorted. “The first was at least two months ago, the second a month later.”

“What was the nature of your visits?”

“Before the first visit, I had received a call from the hospital wanting me to talk to Miss West. The second one was the night that Mr. West was taken into custody.”

“Why were you asked to see Miss West?”

“That day, she’d been admitted due to severe abdominal pains. The doctor noticed bruises all over her body and spoke to Mr. West about it. The doctor said that Mr. West seemed very apathetic toward his sister and avoided talking about her, redirecting the questions to be about the children.”

“But wouldn’t that be a normal action? To talk about the health of the babies?”

“Yes, sir, but Mr. West showed signs of contempt toward the doctor when he addressed Miss West and her condition.”

“I see. Now, Officer, could you describe your first experience with Miss West?”

“When I first arrived, the defendant answered the door. I asked to speak to Miss West and he told me she was sleeping. There was…something about the look in his eyes that made me suspicious of him, and I still needed to speak to her, so I asked if he could wake her up. He reluctantly let me into the house and I went upstairs to Miss West’s room.”

“Was she asleep?”

“No, sir. And when I came in, I told her of the situation. I initially assumed that her father was abusing her because the hospital didn’t specify what I needed to be on the lookout for. Miss West subtly let me know that it was her brother who had been hurting her, and I gave her my personal number so that she could call me in case her situation worsened.”

“And Miss West called you the night of Mr. West’s arrest?”

“Yes, sir. I received a call at around a quarter past midnight. I called in backup and we went to her house. When we had gotten there, a large hole had been formed between the defendant’s room and Miss West’s room. He refused arrest and held her hostage. He had caused severe trauma to Miss West, such as the redden fingerprints along her neck, and she needed to be rushed to the hospital.”

“So you admit that you saw the defendant attack my client?”

“Yes, sir.”

“No further questions, Your Honor.”

Judge Crawford looked to the defense attorney. “You may now proceed with your witness evaluation,” she announced.

Liam’s lawyer stood up, a cold look on his face. “Please remain at the witness stand, Officer,” he asked flatly. The officer, who had stood up, sat back down and relaxed in the witness stand. The lawyer moved to the witness stand and crossed his arm behind his back. “You say you saw my defendant hold onto Miss West and that he resisted arrest, is that correct?”

“Yes, sir,” Meringues answered with a slight nod.

The lawyer looked back at Jade. “Take a look at the plaintiff,” he instructed. He turned back to the officer. “From here, you can see the faint scars on her face. What are they from?”

“Some are scratches and the cuts are from her face being smashed into a mirror,” Meringues answered.

“I also took a look at Miss West’s medical records,” the lawyer announced, pacing back in forth slowly in front of the witness stand, “While being examined, they found skin under her nails. My client, her brother, did not have any scratches on his face or any visible body parts when taken into custody. There were also no traces of skin under my client’s nails. Did you notice any scars or scratches on Mr. West the night you took him into custody?”

“No, sir,” Meringues answered with his eyes down.

The lawyer turned to the jury. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he began, “I would like to point out that—because my client had no foreign traces of skin under his nails, his sister did, and there were scratches on her face—Miss West had self-inflicted the scratches on her face. Furthermore, in the event of arrest, anyone would resist if they were being falsely arrested.”

The lawyer turned on the balls of his feet to face the judge. “Your Honor,” he started, “What we have here is a case of ‘he-said-she-said.’ However, society tends to turn more sympathy toward the woman in a supposed case of abuse. I propose that Miss West was not, in fact, assaulted by my client, but found it beneficial to blame him for her own actions.”

Judge Crawford scowled. “Would you like to call any other witnesses?” she asked with a pointed stare.

“Yes, Your Honor,” he answered. He turned to the plaintiff’s table. “I would like to call Jade West back to the stand for a cross examination.”

Officer Meringues stood up and stepped down from the witness stand. He moved back to his spot where the other pews were and Jade took his place on the witness stand after being sworn in.

“Miss West,” the lawyer called, “How long have you been in a relationship with your boyfriend?”

“In two months it’ll be five years,” she spat. She didn’t like where his questions were leading. She also didn’t like that he was trying to represent a monster like Liam.

“Are you or have you ever been sexually active with your boyfriend?” the lawyer questioned, resuming his slow pacing in front of the witness stand.

“Objection!” Jade’s lawyer cried out.

“On what grounds?” Judge Crawford answered.

“That question is irrelevant to the case at hand,” the plaintiff attorney explained.

Judge Crawford banged her gavel once after a short pause. “Overruled,” she declared. “Miss West, answer the question.”

Jade’s scowl grew deeper, and her face started to redden. “Yes,” she retorted.

“And how long have you been sexually active with your boyfriend?” the lawyer inquired.

Jade rolled her eyes. “Three months after we started dating up until six and a half months ago,” she stated.

“That was about the time you found out you were pregnant, correct?’

“The week before,” Jade corrected. “My brother forced me to stop seeing him.”

“And why would he do that?”

“He said I didn’t deserve my boyfriend, and he said that sex was only going to be my punishment. Like I said, Liam blamed me for what happened to our mother and he thought that he was the one who was allowed to make me pay for what happened.”

“So you say he raped you?” the lawyer questioned in a disbelieving tone.

“He _did_ rape me,” Jade stated adamantly, glaring at the lawyer.

The defense attorney pursed his lips and turned to Judge Crawford. “No further questions, Your Honor,” he announced. “The defense rests.”

Judge Crawford banged her gavel down on the stand. “We will now hear closing arguments from both sides,” she told the court. “Then the jury will be given a short recess while another case proceeds. When we reconvene, we will hear the jury’s deliberation and I will give the final verdict. The plaintiff may now give their closing argument.”

By now, Jade had checked out from the case. It was hopeless and she knew she was going to lose the case. Liam was going to walk away scot-free and he was going to kill her as well as Beck and Cat. There was nothing she could do about it either. After closing arguments were given from both sides, the jury left behind the door they came in and a new court case started. Jade, who hadn’t moved from her spot at the plaintiff table, sat idly at the table as another couple fought for something. They weren’t important enough for her to care.

When the jury returned, Jade felt her heart drop. These twelve, nameless people were about to decide her fate, and they were probably about to sign her death certificate. When they took their seats, the judge banged her gavel and asked the jury to give their verdicts. Jade didn’t even hear what they said, and assumed they decided Liam wasn’t guilty. That would be just her luck, wouldn’t it?

When Judge Crawford cleared her throat, Jade started to pay attention to what was going on. “In the case of Jade West vs. Liam West,” she began in her whispy voice, “I find the defendant, Liam West, guilty for the statutory rape and assault of his sister, Jade West, and will be immediately incarcerated for the next thirteen years with the possibility of probation.”

Liam shot up in his seat, but the bailiff quickly ran up to him to hold him down. “That’s not fair!” Liam screamed as he thrashed in the bailiff’s arms. “I didn’t do it!”

Judge Crawford banged her gavel loudly and the bailiff escorted Liam out of the room with the help of a prison guard. Jade fought to hide her excitement as she livened up in her seat. “…and a restraining order is being put out for Mr. West,” the judge continued. “Should he come within two hundred feet of you or your children, you have the authority to call the police and defend yourself if need be. Should he be released on probation, he is not allowed to be within the aforementioned radius. You will be notified of his probation hearing within the next two years, but you will not be required to attend or be a witness. Is that clear, Miss West?”

Jade nodded eagerly. “Yes, Your Honor,” she breathed happily. She floated on Cloud Nine with unbridled joy and she would finally be able to sleep peacefully at night. Once her case was dismissed, Jade shot up from her seat and moved to where Beck and Cat sat. She waddled quickly to Beck and hugged him tightly, breathing deeply as she laughed in joyed disbelief. When she had calmed down enough from her happiness, she hugged Cat a little less tightly and the three of them left the courthouse to finish off what was left of their school day.

She may have gotten it a little early, but now Jade was going to be able to have the life she always wanted as she raised a family with Beck. Nothing and no one was going to take that away from her.


	16. Time Bomb

* * *

_“From the get-go, I knew this was hard to hold. Like a crash the whole thing spun out of control. It was like a time bomb set into motion. We knew that we were destined to explode. And if I have to pull you out of the wreckage, you know I'm never gonna let you go.” – All Time Low_

* * *

 

_Dear Robbie,_

_Jade told me how when her mommy died, she used to write letters for her. I cried when Jade told me writing you a letter would make me feel better, but Beck told me you weren’t dead. He kept reminding me that you were just sleeping for a long while._

_I really miss you! Why can’t you wake up already? I need you, Robbie. You promised you’d be here for me! Beck says he’ll be here for me and my little girl, but he’s got Jade to look after now. My mommy still won’t talk to me. Danny keeps trying to talk to me, but I don’t want to talk to him. I can’t trust him, Robbie, not like I trust you. I…I still love Danny, but he left me when he found out I got pregnant. What if he leaves me again? I know you’d never leave me._

_We went to court two days ago and they put the mean man who hit you in jail! He’s not gonna come back any time soon. You should wake up so we can celebrate! We can go to that fancy restaurant you like._

_You won’t remember it, but I was in the hospital a few weeks ago, too. It’s just…with you in the hospital and in a coma, no one wanted me around. Everyone hated me because of my baby and they didn’t love her like I did. So…I hurt myself really badly. But the nice people at the hospital found me and made me all better! I know Beck and Jade want me, but I just really miss you._

_Tori said she’s gonna throw us a baby shower, and Jade says that’s where your friends give you gifts to help you with your baby. The only gift I want is you. I really hope you wake up soon!_

_Love,_

_Cat_

* * *

**_Baby, we’re like a time bomb, but I wouldn’t have it any other way_ **

* * *

_Dear Robbie,_

_The days keep going by and you’re still not awake! When are you going to wake up?_

_I wish you were here to hold me. My little girl’s getting so big now and she makes it hard for me to go to sleep. After the court date, Jade had trouble sleeping, too. But Beck was there and he held her at night and she started sleeping better. Remember when my mommy kicked me out and I fell asleep in your arms at Beck’s house? That was probably the best sleep I ever got._

_I feel cold without you, Robbie, and I don’t like that._

_I visited you yesterday and held your hand. I think you twitched a little bit. If I kiss you, will you wake up?_

_My belly’s getting bigger, Robbie, and my little girl’s playing around. I hope you wake up soon so you can feel her kick while she’s still inside me. If not, I hope you wake up so you can be there when I give birth. I want Jade there, but I want you there, too. I want you to hold my hand. I’m really scared, Robbie. I don’t know if I can do this alone. I’m really, really scared…_

_I hope you could wake up soon, Robbie._

_Love,_

_Cat_

* * *

**_Baby, we’re like a time bomb, but I wouldn’t have it any other way_ **

* * *

_Dear Robbie,_

_I got one of my ultrasounds back today! It’s one of those fancy 3D ones and it looks so cool! I saw my little girl so clearly for the first time. It was like she was almost in my arms!_

_Wanna know what I’m gonna name her? I thought really hard about it and I know what I wanna name her! You know that day you kissed me in Beck’s truck after you two picked me up from the park? Well, I met a little girl named Cassandra. She was so pretty and sweet and she made me feel better when I was feeling sad about Daniel. So I’m gonna name my baby Cassidy! The little girl told me her nickname was Cassie and I thought that was so cute, so I wanna nickname my daughter Cassie. I like the name Cassidy a lot, too! I think for her middle name, I think I’ll name her Sloane. My little girl’s gonna be named Cassidy Sloane Valentine! Jade really likes the name Sloane, but I don’t think she’s going to name her daughter that._

_Oh! Jade told me she was having a little girl and a little boy!! Isn’t that cute? She told me a few names she’s thinking about for the baby girl, but she says she won’t be sure of what to name her until she sees her. She said she’s gonna let Beck name her son. That’s so sweet! If I had a boy, I’d let you name him. I’m not really good with boy names. Ooh! We could name him Robert Andre Beck Valentine-Shapiro! I don’t have to marry you for him to have your last name do I?_

_Ugh, I gotta get ready for school. I haven’t been doing so well in my classes because of my baby hormones and Jade says I need to try harder in class. I’ll see you later when I drop this off at the hospital!_

_Love,_

_Cat_

* * *

**_Baby, we’re like a time bomb, but I wouldn’t have it any other way_ **

* * *

_Dear Robbie,_

_I miss you so much. I know I said that before, but I really do! I need you here with me. The baby shower’s coming up soon and you’re not here! Why can’t you just wake up already?_

_Did you feel it when I kissed you on your cheek? You felt so warm. Did you feel it when I kissed your lips and held your hand? You twitched a little. I just want you to wake up and be with me, Robbie._

_I’m really lonely, Robbie. We have an odd number of people at our table. Well, I guess Trina makes it an even number, but I don’t really talk to her. Tori’s getting bigger and Andre’s sticking with her through the whole thing. She’s having a little boy and she wants me to be a god mommy! Andre’s always busy with her and she’s busy planning the baby shower. Beck and Jade try to include me, but they’re just really wrapped up in themselves. I understand it since they’ve been together for so long, but I’m really, really left out._

_I tried sleeping in your bed with you last night, but a nurse found me and made me go home. Jade got really mad that I was missing and she yelled at me when she picked me up from the hospital with Beck. I cried and then she felt bad and she kind of cried, too, but don’t tell her I said that or she’ll get upset again!_

_I’ll come see you after school, okay? I hope you wake up by then._

_Love,_

_Cat_

* * *

**_Baby, we’re like a time bomb, but I wouldn’t have it any other way_ **

* * *

It had been nearly two months since the court date. While Jade was sleeping with a better piece of mind, Cat still felt empty. She didn’t feel safe, not like Jade did. Jade had Beck to keep her safe, and she had a habit of hogging Beck from everybody. And like she wrote in her letters to Robbie, Tori and Andre were hung up on each other, excluding Cat as well. She could talk to Trina or Sinjin, but Trina was more focused on making Tori’s son the happiest nephew in the world and Sinjin was just…creepy. No one else really wanted to talk to her because of her pregnancy, but writing the letters to Robbie were really helping her.

As she finished writing her last letter to Robbie, Jade walked into the bedroom. “Come on, Cat,” she urged in a soft voice. “It’s time to go.”

Cat smiled at her friend and used the bed board to push herself up. She tucked the note into the pocket of her maternity jeans. “Do you think Robbie’s gonna wake up today?” she asked hopefully.

Jade sighed and crossed her arms. “I don’t know, Cat,” she confessed. She stepped toward her friend and wrapped her arm around Cat’s shoulders. “No one can tell if he’s gonna wake up today, tomorrow, or another month.” With difficulty, she lowered herself onto the bed and patted a free space beside herself. Cat quickly plopped down beside Jade, giggling as Cassidy bounced inside her belly.

Jade forced a weak smile. “There’s a lot of hope, Cat,” she assured her friend. “The doctors in there, they monitor Robbie’s brain while he sleeps to see if he’ll get better. Since I told you to write those letters and give them to him, he’s been doing a lot better. He’s been doing a lot more thinking than he used to do a couple months ago.” She grabbed Cat’s hands and held them tightly. “He’s gonna wake up,” she promised. “There’s no doubt about it, okay?”

Cat nodded with a bright smile, tears brimming her eyes. “Kay, kay,” she whispered happily.

Jade wiped Cat’s tears away with her thumb and gave a small smile. “Help me up,” she said. “We’ve got a double baby shower to get to.”

* * *

**_Baby, we’re like a time bomb, but I wouldn’t have it any other way_ **

* * *

Beck and Jade couldn’t be happier with themselves. They decided that once the babies were born, Beck’s name would be put on the birth certificates and they wouldn’t bother to take a paternity test. Beck wanted to at first, even though Jade swore up and down to herself that they were Liam’s, but they both eventually decided they wouldn’t care since they were Jade’s no matter what. Now, holding hands as Beck drove to Tori’s for the baby shower, they were the epitome of happiness.

It made Cat sick.

As she sat in the backseat, she held her own hands over her stomach. She closed her eyes and imagined leaning against Robbie, that it was his hand holding hers over her baby bump. The thought made her feel warm inside and Cassidy fluttered a little bit under her mother’s hands. Cat smiled softly to herself, clenching her eyes shut a little tighter.

Things were gonna be okay.

* * *

**_Baby, we’re like a time bomb, but I wouldn’t have it any other way_ **

* * *

“Are we early?” Cat asked as they pulled up to Tori’s house. “I don’t see any cars.”

Jade scowled, looking at her phone. “Vega said to be here at noon,” she announced as she looked to her redheaded friend. “It’s 11:59. If they’re all coming in one minute, then I’d say we’re right on time.”

“What if no one’s coming?”

Beck put his hand on Cat’s shoulder. “They’re coming,” he assured her with a small smile. “People care, Cat. Let’s go inside and wait.”

Cat, on the verge of tears, wiped her eyes and nodded, letting Beck lead her to Tori’s front door. He rang the doorbell and the door opened, revealing Tori’s darkened house. Jade smirked as she stepped up to the open door.

“Now this is my kind of party,” she quipped.

Beck rolled his eyes and ushered the girls into the house. “Tori!” he called. “We’re here!” For a moment, the three of them stood in silence, only the light from the doorway spilling into Tori’s living room.

Then, the lights exploded, washing over everything in the room. Several girls from school jumped up from behind Tori’s couch, behind the kitchen counter, from the back porch, and down from the top of the stairs. They all yelled “Surprise!” at the top of their lungs and Cat squealed in happiness.

Tori ran out from the couch and jumped to a stop in front of the three newcomers. “Happy double baby shower!” she exclaimed with a wide grin. Cat squealed again and hugged Tori tightly, being careful not to squeeze their baby bumps together.

“You said it, Tori!” Trina exclaimed, bounding over to her sister. She grabbed Tori’s yarn-string necklace and took the safety pin off the necklace, putting it on her own.

“Oh, come on!” Tori whined. “I had to introduce them.”

“Nope,” Trina denied proudly. “You said we can’t say the b-word and you said it!” She skipped proudly back over to the other girls.

“The ‘b-word’?” Jade repeated skeptically with a raised eyebrow.

“I looked online and found a game called ‘Never Say Baby,’” Tori explained. “If you say it and someone catches you on it, they get your safety pin. At the end of the shower, the person with the most safety pins on her necklace wins a prize.”

Jade nodded skeptically and looked around in awe, taking in the sight of the room. A large banner for Cat and Jade hung in the center of the ceiling and there were pink and black streamers everywhere. Balloons with Cat and Jade’s names scrawled on them in curly letters floated everywhere. In the middle of the room sat a coffee table full of presents, almost spilling over, and a large cake sits on the kitchen table. “I gotta hand it to you, Vega,” she starts with a wide smirk, “I didn’t think you’d really pull this off.”

“Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I’m handicapped,” Tori joked. She moved to Jade and placed her hand on the taller girl’s shoulder. “I planned some games for us, then cake, and finally, the presents!”

 _Presents_ , Jade hissed in her mind. How could she forget the presents? She got Beck to buy the gift after Cat ended up in the hospital and she couldn’t do it herself. She planned on giving it to Cat when she got out of the hospital, but there was the whole moving situation and the problems at school and the Liam stuff that she kind of forgot to give it to her. She turned to Beck after shrugging off Tori’s hand.

“Can I see your keys?” she whispered so Cat wouldn’t hear.

“Why?” Beck whispered back.

“I left the esent-pray at home,” she hissed, gripping his hand tightly. “Give me your keys so I can go get it and get back.”

Sighing lightly, Beck fished in his pocket for his truck keys and handed them to Jade. He kissed her on the cheek. “Hurry back, okay?”

Jade scrunched her face at him and left the house, waddling back to Tori’s truck.

Tori grabbed Beck’s arm. “Come on,” she urged. “As the only boy at this baby shower, you have a big job to do!”

“And what is that?” Beck laughed.

“To be the PG-13 stripper!” she squealed as she pulled him into the mess of girls.

* * *

**_Baby, we’re like a time bomb, but I wouldn’t have it any other way_**

* * *

Much to Beck’s dismay—and the excitement of the girls—Tori was serious. Thankfully, the only thing they made him take off was his shirt and his undershirt. The whole time, Cat held her hands over her eyes and watched through her fingers, giggling at the naughty little show.

After Beck’s semi-exploitation, which Jade would have _greatly_ disapproved of, the girls looked among each other. “What should we do now?” a bright eyed, blonde girl, Erica, asked. She was in Cat’s Math class. “Should we wait for Jade?”

Tori thought it over for a moment. “I guess we could play one game,” she answered. “Then we’ll just do some crafts or something.”

“Can we play the one where Beck takes off his pants?” another brunette girl, Brielle, suggested with a devious grin and sly glance to Beck.

“Yeah, how about no?” Tori retorted. “Jade could be back any minute, and I don’t want to die before I have my baby.” She pulled a piece of paper from her back pocket and opened it. “Let’s play the baby making game!” she suggested with bright eyes.

“I’m pretty sure you and Cat beat us to the punch,” an Asian girl named Jamie pointed out jokingly.

Tori rolled her eyes with a playful sneer. “You know that’s not what I meant.” She stood up and went to the kitchen table where the cake and various other items sat. She picked up a large stack of baby magazines and set them down in the empty space behind the couch. “Everyone, come over here,” she called out. All the other girls jumped up from the couches and moved to Tori. “Now, everyone’s going to break up into teams and we’re going to cut up these magazines to piece together what we think Cat’s baby will look like.” She turned to Cat with a smile. “You get to pick the winner, Cat.”

Cat clapped her hands happily. “Yay!” she shouted happily.

The girls broke up into four teams. Tori, Erica, and a natural redhead named Madison formed the first group. The ginger-haired twins, Dana and Darla, formed a group with Andre’s cousin, Nala. Jamie, an Italian-American named Aliana, and Trina formed the third group. Finally, the fourth group consisted of a brunette named Portia, a blonde named Caitlin, and another girl Cat never met before but assumed Jade did.

“Okay, everyone,” Tori guided, “Now we’re all gonna make a little baby. Let’s go!” With squeals and excited shrieks, the girls attacked the magazine stack and each girl took their own magazine while Cat sat on the elevation where the piano stood.

Then there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it!” Cat exclaimed happily, though no one else paid attention. She pushed herself up off the elevation, while Beck raided Tori’s fridge, and made her way to the front door. When she opened it, she frowned. “Tori!” she screamed.

Tori shot up with narrowed eyes. “No one invited you, Danny,” she told him. “What are you doing here?”

“I came here to talk to Cat,” he stated, looking into Cat’s eyes.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Cat insisted.

“Cat, please—”

“She said she didn’t want to talk to you,” Beck repeated sternly as he walked up to Cat. All the party guests were paying attention now, completely disregarding their baby magazines.

This time, Danny looked up. “I just want a couple minutes,” he announced. He looked down at Cat. “Give me five minutes and hear me out,” he pleaded. “After that, I’ll leave you alone.”

Cat hesitated for a moment, looking away from Danny, then sighed. “Five minutes,” she allowed. She turned to Beck. “Will you time it?”

Beck nodded, rubbing Cat’s back. “I’ll set my phone,” he assured her.

Danny grimaced and narrowed his eyes at Beck. “Can we get a little privacy please?”

Beck crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “Tori,” he called, keeping his eyes locked on Cat’s ex. “Where’s a place that I can keep an eye on them while still letting them have their privacy?”

Tori crossed her arms and scowled at Danny. “They can talk on the back porch,” she answered curtly.

Beck and Tori moved out of the way, allowing Danny to step inside. “You have five minutes,” Beck announced authoritatively.

Danny stepped inside and let Cat to the back door. He opened it for her with a charming smile, but she rolled her eyes and stepped outside. He closed the door and sighed.

“Cat—”

“Why did you do that to me?”

“I didn’t mean to!”

Cat rolled her eyes. “I needed you,” she told him. “I went to you first because I thought you loved me. But you treated me just like my mom did!”

Danny lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry, Cat,” he whispered. “I was so stupid.” He looked up at her. “But I realized I was wrong. I was wrong to pressure you into sleeping with me and I was wrong to abandon you after I got you pregnant.”

Cat’s lower lip quivered. “What do you want from me?” she asked quietly.

Danny reached out to her, but Cat jumped back. He lowered his hands in defeat. “I want you to know I’m sorry for what I did,” he replied. “I made a mistake letting you go. Please, take me back, Cat.”

Cat laughed ruefully and wiped away tears that welled up in both of her eyes. “I can’t,” she said.

“You…can’t?”

Cat huffed and pulled down the fuzzy pink wristbands she wore. She held up her wrists to Danny. “Every time I look at my hands,” she began, “I remind myself that you and my mommy didn’t want me. I was really scared when I did this; I didn’t know what was going to happen to me and my baby if I had to raise her by myself.” She lowered her wrists and looked Danny in the eyes. “I’ve seen my baby girl, and I’m scared to do this again. I have to be strong for her, Daniel, but I can’t if you leave me again.”

Danny’s eyes reddened and a disbelieving smile formed on his face. “Y-you’re having a baby girl?” he choked out.

Cat nodded solemnly. “But you’re not, Daniel,” she stated quietly. “Not yet, anyway. I don’t trust you to keep me safe anymore. The only person I do trust is in a coma…”

Danny’s hands twitched. What was he telling her? She didn’t want him? That…just wasn’t right! She was going to throw everything they built away for someone who couldn’t even hold her? That was stupid! Here he was, giving himself up to her. He was going to give up his life to help her rebuild hers. Why wouldn’t she accept that?

On impulse, Danny’s hands shot out to Cat’s face and he held her cheeks tightly. His lips crashed down on hers and he pleaded desperately in his mind for her to melt into him like she used to. He was begging with his kiss for her to feel the passion he still had for her, to know the flame wasn’t out.

Instead, she pushed him away and slapped him.

Cat wrenched the back door open, running inside and up the stairs. “Cat!” Tori called as she ran after her.

Beck stepped outside, his fingers locked tight into a fist, and hit Danny square in the jaw. The pitiful boy fell to the ground. He looked up to Beck’s towering, heavily breathing figure as he held his reddening face and scrambled to his feet. “Don’t you ever come near Cat again!” Beck shouted as Danny darted out of Tori’s back yard.

Upstairs, Tori found Cat crying in her room. She sat down on her bed beside the crying redhead and wrapped her arms around her. “It’s okay, Cat,” Tori consoled. “He’s not gonna do anything like that again.”

“But why did he have to come back?” Cat wailed. “I was doing fine without him! He’s making me feel so awful.”

Tori sighed and rested her head on Cat’s shoulder. “Beck will keep him away from you,” she promised. “Danny will never bother you again.”

Cat wiped her nose. “You promise?”

Tori sat up and nodded. “I promise. Now, we have a baby shower to get back to.”

Cat forced a small smile. “Kay, kay.”

Tori and Cat got up, Tori’s arms wrapped around Cat’s shoulders. When the girls reached the top of the stairs, Nala called out to them. “Hey, when’s Jade getting back? I wanna play more games!”

Tori shrugged. “I don’t know,” she answered. “Did you try calling her Beck?”

Beck, who had his phone to his ear, sighed. “Three times,” he answered tiredly. “Your dad’s upstairs, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Do you think he’ll let me borrow his car?” Beck questioned. “I’m gonna go check on her.”

Tori nodded and disappeared back to the upper level of her house. Moments later, when Cat reached the foot of the stairs, Tori reemerged and tossed the keys to Beck who caught them effortlessly. “Just don’t wreck it,” she advised.

“But your neighbor’s mailbox is calling me,” he joked as he moved toward the front door. Tori sneered and he left.

“Can we watch a movie while we wait for Beck and Jade?” Cat suggested.

Tori smiled brightly. “Sure,” she replied. “Go pick one out.”

Minutes later, Cat had chosen to watch _Toy Story 3_. It was one of her favorites because it had that really sad part to it that always made her cry ever time, and she felt like she needed a good cry. All the girls moved the shower presents around so they could get a better look at the TV and Tori started the movie.

About twenty minutes into the movie, when Barbie met Ken and fell in love with him, Tori’s phone rang in her pocket. She looked at Beck’s name on the caller ID and smiled, hitting pause on the remote. “Hey,” she greeted. “Where are you guys? You’ve got two pregnant girls here and a cake that’s calling fourteen names.”

_“Jade’s hurt,” Beck announced frantically. “I’m on the way to the hospital right now and your dad’s car is at her house.”_

“Oh, my gosh!” Tori exclaimed. “What happened to her?”

“Tori?” Cat called worriedly. “What’s going on?”

Tori just waved her off.

_“It’s…not my place to tell,” Beck answered. “But can you get Cat to the hospital? They think that Jade might go into labor from all the stress.”_

Tori screamed. “Yeah, we’ll be there in a little bit!” She hung up the phone and ran to the stairs. “Dad! Dad, come quick!”

“Tori, what’s going on?” Madison asked.

“What’s wrong with Jade?” Darla questioned.

Tori turned around in distress. “I’m so sorry, guys,” she apologized, “But Jade’s in the hospital about to go into labor. Beck told me that she’ll want Cat there, so we’re gonna have to postpone the shower.” She turned back to the stairs. “Dad!”

“What is it, Tori?” Officer Vega questioned as he appeared at the top of the stairs. “Your mother and I are trying to watch the new Meryl Streep movie.”

“You don’t even like Meryl Streep!” she shouted. “Jade’s in trouble and I have to get Cat to the hospital. Can you take us?”

“Yeah, hold on,” he told her. “I just have to get your mother and her keys.” Moments later, David and Holly emerged from the hallway, bounding down the stairs. “Your mother’s going to stay here and wait for the girls’ rides,” David informed his daughter. He motioned for Tori and Cat to go out the door. “Let’s go if we’re going!”

Trina and Aliana helped Cat off the couch and she waddled quickly to the front door. Officer Vega opened it for her and ushered her and Tori outside. He quickly darted out after them.

* * *

**_Baby, we’re like a time bomb, but I wouldn’t have it any other way_ **

* * *

Cat didn’t know how long it took them to get to the hospital; she was too distraught over Jade. She and Tori sat in the backseat of her mother’s car as David drove and she couldn’t sit still. Everything was crashing down on her and she didn’t know what to do.

_Jade’s in trouble._

The words rung in her mind like a gong. What if…what if Liam had hurt her? He couldn’t have, though, could he? He was in jail and he had a restraining order. He wouldn’t violate that. He’d get in more trouble if he did.

When they reached the hospital, Cat jumped out of the car and ran inside as fast as she could without Cassidy getting upset. Tori and her father called after her, running in after her. “Where’s Jade?” Cat shrieked to the receptionist.

“Who?” the elderly woman asked with a small sneer.

“Jade West,” Tori answered breathlessly. “What room is she in?”

The receptionist clicked and clacked slowly on her computer which irritated Cat. “She’s in the ER,” the woman finally said. Cat squealed and ran down the hall, Tori groaning and running after her. When she reached the double doors that led to the ER, she burst through them. Tori and her father didn’t follow, but still called out her name.

“Jade!” Cat called out. “Jade, where are you?”

“Cat!” Beck hissed from behind her.

The redhead skidded to a stop and turned around to see Beck jogging up to her. “What are you doing?” he asked. “You can’t be here.”

“I have to see her!” Cat cried. She grabbed Beck’s hand tightly and pulled him to where she thought Jade would be. “What room is it?”

Reluctantly, Beck moved in front of her and led her to the operating room where Jade was being held. When they reached the doorway, a tall doctor in green scrubs blocked their view. “Excuse me,” he said through his white mask, “But she can’t be back here. We’ll allow you, Mr. Oliver, since you’re the father, but this young lady has to wait outside.”

“But I’m her sister!” Cat shouted.

The doctor shook his head. “I’m sorry, Ms. West, but only one person can go in with your sister. It’s either you or the father.”

Beck rubbed Cat’s shoulders reassuringly. “It’s okay, Cat,” he breathed, “I’ll look out for her.”

Cat looked up at him with sad eyes, then darted back out of the ER double doors. She bumped into Tori who held her tightly, and Cat let out all the tears of fear she’d been holding in.

Officer Vega placed his hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Cat,” he suggested over her sobbing, “Let’s sit you down. Jade’s gonna be just fine; don’t you worry.”

* * *

**_Baby, we’re like a time bomb, but I wouldn’t have it any other way_ **

* * *

About an hour later, Beck came out of the ER without Jade. Cat shot up from her seat. “Where’s Jade?” she asked in fear.

Beck smiled warmly. “They’re moving her to the second floor,” he told her. His face lit up. “I’m a dad, Cat.” A tear escaped his eye and Cat squealed in excitement. She ran up to him and held him tightly.

“Take me to her,” she breathed against his chest. When she let go, Beck led her, Tori, and Officer Vega to the elevator. When they reached the second floor, Beck led them down the hall to Room 220 where Jade slept soundly.

“She’s still sleeping,” Beck announced before everyone entered the room. “She delivered safely and naturally, and now she needs to rest.”

Cat moved past him and stood by Jade’s bed. She smiled and tears of joy filled her eyes. “You’re a mommy, Jade,” she breathed as she held her sleeping friend’s hand. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”

She heard a slight gasp from behind, but didn’t turn around. She kept her eyes on the bruised and battered girl in the hospital bed. Then, pale arms wrapped around her stomach and she jumped. She assumed it was Danny, and she got ready to scream.

But when she turned around, it wasn’t Danny.

“Robbie!” she exclaimed happily. The curly-haired boy looked down at her with a smile. His curls were a little messy, he still wore his hospital gown, and he carried an IV with him. “I thought you were sleeping!”

Robbie wrapped his arms around Cat’s waist again, being careful of the IV. “Your voice woke me up,” he told her softly. His voice sounded a little hoarse, but Cat knew it would get better. The same thing happened when her brother slept for twenty-four hours once.

Cat stood on her tip-toes and kissed Robbie deeply. His lips danced across hers, but something felt off when her wrists grazed his neck. He pulled away slightly and gently held her hands up to his face. He examined her scars and Cat looked away from him. Robbie smiled softly and kissed the scars on each of her wrists. “Promise me you won’t do this again,” he asked quietly.

Cat nodded slowly. “I promise,” she breathed.

Robbie kissed her lips lightly. “I love you, Cat.”

She smiled broadly and kissed him back. “I love you too, Robbie.”

**~~Jade: 34 weeks~~ **

**Cat: 28 weeks**

**Tori: 23 weeks**


	17. Surrender The Night

* * *

_“When you’re gone, you surrender your heart. I surrender every dream, every weapon you've got, every secret that I keep. You can fight this all you want, but tonight belongs to me.” – My Chemical Romance_

* * *

Jade, for one, was glad the stupid court date was over. She was glad that the trial was over and _ecstatic_ that Liam was in jail. He was a painful thorn in her side, and now she was done with him. But something didn’t feel right. She didn’t… _feel_ any better. She still felt like something bad was going to happen, like there was still some unfinished business. That pesky little thought made it hard for her to sleep at night, but she pretended for Cat’s sake.

The first day after Liam’s trial, Cat cried. She was happy about Liam being put away, but she was still upset that Robbie couldn’t be there to celebrate with her. Cat was at her wit’s end crying over Robbie, so Jade had to think of something.

That’s when she came up with the letter idea.

Jade told Cat to write letters for Robbie whenever she was feeling really sad, and she would get Beck to take them to the hospital so she could give it to Robbie. Then, when he woke up, he would know how much she cared about him.

For the time being, it really helped and Cat was able to sleep a little better. With that taken care of, Jade was free to hide away in Beck’s loving arms. While she didn’t feel too much better, being with Beck definitely helped her a lot.

The days at school seemed to drag on forever, and Jade was far too restless to get her work done. She didn’t sing very much anymore, and she barely wanted to act or do anything else that required _effort_.

The babies were getting bigger every day, and she wasn’t. Like the doctor said, her body frame wasn’t big enough to support twins. There wasn’t enough room in her body for the three of them, and her son and daughter were often pressed tightly against her sides or her spine. There was no use crying over it, though, because there wasn’t anything anyone could do for her. Medication was highly frowned upon and Beck wasn’t some wizard who could take her pain away.

She wasn’t much for talking to people, and that sure as hell didn’t change with her pregnancy. Tori, that annoying little girl, kept trying to ask for pregnancy advice and kept trying to gush about her relationship with Andre. Apparently, Mr. Vega was warming up a little bit and had decided to let Tori go over to his house; he still wasn’t allowed to step foot into the Vega residence.

Jade wanted to punch Tori in the face for being so annoying, but she’d already gotten in trouble for fighting and really didn’t need to miss any more school. Even more, she had to go to the stupid baby shower that Tori would be hosting. She didn’t care if it was rude not to go, but Cat would want her to go and would freak out if she didn’t.

“Do I have to go?” Jade whined as she sat at the kitchen counter. Beck had made breakfast for the three of them, but Cat was too upset to really eat anything. She picked at what was left of her scrambled eggs.

Beck sighed as he sat down beside her. “For the third time,” he started tiredly. “Yes, you do. Tori went through a lot of trouble to make a double baby shower for you and Cat, so it’s the least you can do. Besides, Cat’s gonna want you there.”

Jade groans slightly and tosses her head back. “Fine,” she breathes. “I’ll go.” She looks at Beck with a cold glare. “But if it starts getting lame,” she threatens. “I will _leave_ faster than you can blink, do you understand me? I will take your keys and leave you and Cat to rot at Vega’s _stupid_ shower.”

Beck rolls his eyes. “You’re really over dramatic sometimes,” he points out. “You know that?” He stands up and kisses her forehead. “Finish your breakfast; we gotta get going.”

Begrudgingly, Jade forced down her eggs; she didn’t much care about food anymore and the thought of it made her sick. Then, Beck helped her out of her seat—much to Jade’s dismay—and she went into the bedroom where Cat was sitting on her bed, writing another letter to Robbie. “Come on, Cat,” she urged in a soft voice. “It’s time to go.”

Cat smiled at her friend and used the bed board to push herself up. She tucked the note into the pocket of her maternity jeans. “Do you think Robbie’s gonna wake up today?” she asked hopefully.

Another milestone Jade would just _love_ crossing.

She sighed and crossed her arms. She hated talking about Robbie more than anything. “I don’t know, Cat,” she confessed. She stepped toward her friend and wrapped her arm around Cat’s shoulders. “No one can tell if he’s gonna wake up today, tomorrow, or another month.” With difficulty, she lowered herself onto the bed and patted a free space beside herself. Cat quickly plopped down beside Jade, giggling as Cassidy bounced inside her belly.

Jade forced a weak smile. “There’s a lot of hope, Cat,” she assured her friend. “The doctors in there, they monitor Robbie’s brain while he sleeps to see if he’ll get better. Since I told you to write those letters and give them to him, he’s been doing a lot better. He’s been doing a lot more thinking than he used to do a couple months ago.” She grabbed Cat’s hands and held them tightly. “He’s gonna wake up,” she promised. “There’s no doubt about it, okay?”

Cat nodded with a bright smile, tears brimming her eyes. “Kay, kay,” she whispered happily.

Jade wiped Cat’s tears away with her thumb and gave a small smile. “Help me up,” she said. At much as she hated it, she had a commitment to follow through with. “We’ve got a double baby shower to get to.”

* * *

**_Tonight belongs to me_ **

* * *

When Beck got into the truck after helping Cat and Jade in, Jade reached for his hand and held it tightly. Beck chuckled slightly. “It’s not gonna be that bad,” he assured her.

“I’m gonna hold your hand anyway,” she mumbled in response, keeping her eyes on the road in front of them. She sighed and forced a smile as she turned to him. “You still haven’t picked out a boy’s name.”

When they pulled up to a stoplight, Beck turned to her with sad eyes. “That should be the father’s job,” he told her.

Jade rolled her eyes; she didn’t need three over-emotional people in one car. “We talked about this before,” she reminded. “Your name’s going on the certificates, so as far as me and the law are concerned, _you’re_ the father. I already told you that I don’t care if you’re their biological father, just as long as you’re there for them. You’re gonna be there for them, right?”

“Of course I am,” he assured her with an incredulous smile. A horn honked behind them and Beck looked up to see the light had turned green. Jade rolled down the window and turned around as much as she could so she could yell profanities at the driver behind them. Beck tugged on the hand that he held, subtly pulling Jade back into the car with an annoyed grunt. “I promised I would take care of the babies, no matter what.”

Jade grabbed held his hand to her lips and kissed it softly. “You have to be the legal father to do that,” she stated adamantly, “So shut up about it.”

Beck hesitated for a moment. “So…if you ever had a doubt about if they’re mine,” he began sheepishly, “Would…you want me to take a paternity test?”

“Nope,” Jade answered firmly. “And I don’t want you to ask me about it again, got it?” She leaned over, struggling slightly, and kissed him on the cheek. “If they’re yours, they’re yours. And if they’re his—which I don’t doubt, honestly—they’re still gonna be yours.”

Beck smiled as he pulled up to a stop sign and stole a kiss from Jade, to which she didn’t mind. She happily kissed him back and they spent the rest of the ride holding hangs in blissful silence. Beck believed they were happy, and Jade forced herself to believe she was happy.

If there was anything Jade was sure of, as long as she had Beck, things were gonna be okay.

* * *

**_Tonight belongs to me_ **

* * *

As they pulled into Tori’s driveway, Jade grimaced when she saw the lack of cars pulled up to the house. She didn’t expect anyone to come, so she didn’t know why Tori even bothered. They didn’t like her, and they didn’t like Cat enough to come to her shower.

“Are we early?” Cat asked as they pulled up. “I don’t see any cars.”

Jade scowled, looking at her phone. She hoped people would come, for Cat’s sake. “Vega said to be here at noon,” she announced as she looked to her redheaded friend. “It’s 11:59. If they’re all coming in one minute, then I’d say we’re right on time.”

“What if no one’s coming?”

And there was the inevitable, heart-breaking question. The pain in Cat’s voice put Jade on the brink of tears—thanks to her stupid hormones—but she quickly thought about something else to take her mind away from crying.

Beck put his hand on Cat’s shoulder. “They’re coming,” he assured her with a small smile. “People care, Cat. Let’s go inside and wait.”

Thank God Beck was around. He knew how to handle things. He comforted Jade in ways he didn’t even know, and that was one of the things Jade loved about him.

Cat, on the verge of tears, wiped her eyes and nodded, letting Beck lead her to Tori’s front door. He rang the doorbell and the door opened, revealing Tori’s darkened house. Jade smirked as she stepped up to the open door.

“Now this is my kind of party,” she quipped.

Beck rolled his eyes and ushered the girls into the house. “Tori!” he called. “We’re here!” For a moment, the three of them stood in silence, only the light from the doorway spilling into Tori’s living room.

Then, the lights exploded, washing over everything in the room. Several girls from school jumped up from behind Tori’s couch, behind the kitchen counter, from the back porch, and down from the top of the stairs. They all yelled “Surprise!” at the top of their lungs and Cat squealed in happiness.

Tori ran out from the couch and jumped to a stop in front of the three newcomers. “Happy double baby shower!” she exclaimed with a wide grin. Cat squealed again and hugged Tori tightly, being careful not to squeeze their baby bumps together.

“You said it, Tori!” Trina exclaimed, bounding over to her sister. She grabbed Tori’s yarn-string necklace and took the safety pin off the necklace, putting it on her own.

“Oh, come on!” Tori whined. “I had to introduce them.”

“Nope,” Trina denied proudly. “You said we can’t say the b-word and you said it!” She skipped proudly back over to the other girls.

“The ‘b-word’?” Jade repeated skeptically with a raised eyebrow. What the hell had she walked into?

“I looked online and found a game called ‘Never Say Baby,’” Tori explained. “If you say it and someone catches you on it, they get your safety pin. At the end of the shower, the person with the most safety pins on her necklace wins a prize.”

Jade nodded skeptically and looked around in awe, taking in the sight of the room; if only she could have alcohol to get through this. A large banner for Cat and Jade hung in the center of the ceiling and there were pink and black streamers everywhere. Balloons with Cat and Jade’s names scrawled on them in curly letters floated everywhere. In the middle of the room sat a coffee table full of presents, almost spilling over, and a large cake sits on the kitchen table. “I gotta hand it to you, Vega,” she started with a wide smirk, “I didn’t think you’d really pull this off.”

“Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I’m handicapped,” Tori joked. She moved to Jade and placed her hand on the taller girl’s shoulder. “I planned some games for us, then cake, and finally, the presents!”

_Presents_ , Jade hissed in her mind. How could she forget the present? She got Beck to buy the gift after Cat ended up in the hospital and she couldn’t do it herself. She planned on giving it to Cat when she got out of the hospital, but there was the whole moving situation and the problems at school and the Liam stuff that she kind of forgot to give it to her. It took her forever to find a stupid bear-shaped, fuzzy, onsie that Cat kept mumbling about in her sleep and it was even harder to find a green one (since Cat decided that Cassidy’s favorite color would be green). She turned to Beck after shrugging off Tori’s hand.

“Can I see your keys?” she whispered so Cat wouldn’t hear.

“Why?” Beck whispered back skeptically. “The party hasn’t even started yet.”

“I left the esent-pray at home,” she hissed, gripping his hand tightly. “Give me your keys so I can go get it and get back.”

Sighing lightly, Beck fished in his pocket for his truck keys and handed them to Jade. He kissed her on the cheek. “Hurry back, okay? Tori put a lot of effort into this.”

Jade scrunched her face at him and left the house, waddling back to Tori’s truck. He should know by now that she didn’t give a damn about Tori and certainly not the God-awful baby shower. She wished she could just stay home and sleep for a few hours so she could get off her swollen feet, but she knew Beck would call her every so often if she didn’t return in a timely manner.

* * *

**_Tonight belongs to me_ **

* * *

The drive was excruciating. Beck’s idiotic truck didn’t allot much room in the driver’s seat, and she pushed it back as far as it would go. So as she drove back to her house, Jade spent fifteen agonizing minutes with the steering wheel pressed against her bulbous stomach while her kids got an early start at martial arts. She even had to pull over and get out a few times to regain her composure.

And when she finally got home, the sight of her father’s car in the driveway shocked her. Her father’s car was in the driveway. Her _father’s car_ was in the _driveway_. He was never home at five o’clock on a Saturday!

Her hand instinctively went to her phone. She wanted to call Beck and tell him she’d be at his place in five, like she used to when Liam was at war and her father got drunk, but he was at Tori’s and she didn’t think she’d be able to handle another fifteen minutes in Beck’s cramped truck right away.

She could practically smell the alcohol from her car.

With a sigh, she took her phone out of the cup holder and sent Beck a text that he should probably be expecting her to be a little while longer because her dad was home. She put her phone in the pocket of her sweatpants and hoisted herself out of her car.

As she made her way to the door, she heard glass smashing and loud thuds. She sighed a little louder and went inside. Her father was standing in the doorframe separating the kitchen from the living room with his head against the frame. He held a bottle of Jack in his hand with a death grip while his other arm rested atop his head. His body was heaving slightly and there was a small stream of blood staining his messy, blue, button-down. Pictures, glass shards, and books were sprawled all over the living room floor. Jade took a step and heard glass crunch beneath her boot. She looked down to see that she’d stepped on one of the many pictures with her mother in it. It had her smiling brightly as she held a four-year old Jade and a ten-year old Liam’s hand as her husband wrapped his arm around her shoulder. A tear threatened to escape Jade’s eye, but she quickly wiped it away with a scowl.

“Where did I go wrong?” her father slurred loudly from the kitchen’s doorframe. He lifted his head to look at his daughter with blood-shot eyes. “My son’s in jail and my little girl’s pr-pregnant. I love you so much, Jade…but I messed up. I screwed up by you. I screwed up by my boy. Where did I go wrong?”

Jade opened her mouth to say something when he began clomping over to her. She took in a deep breath, preparing herself for the worst.

“This is all Christine’s fault!” he accused. “If-if-if she hadn’t…she hadn’t cheated on me…then I’d be okay.” He smiled a crooked smile in spite of himself. “I’d be okay…”

“She didn’t cheat on you,” Jade stated flatly. “You cheated on her.”

Mr. West threw his bottle and it smashed against the wall, sending drops of liquor flying everywhere. “Shut the hell up!” he screamed. “Your mother was a goddamn whore who cheated on me!” His hands shot to his head and he lowered his eyes. “I gave her everything. I gave her everything. She was always so good to me; I thought I didn’t deserve her. Then…she cheated…”

“She didn’t cheat on you,” Jade repeated a little louder.

“Yes she did!” he shouted, closing the distance between them. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and it made her stomach churn. He grabbed her by her sweatshirt and pulled her inside, kicking the door closed behind his daughter. Then he pushed her up against the wall and slammed his hands against the pieces of wall beside her face. The babies pressed themselves tighter against her sides, making Jade hurt worse.

“She didn’t think I knew,” he whispered. “She didn’t know I caught her. She thought she was smarter than me. Goddamn whores ain’t smart, Jadey.” He smirked lazily, his eyes drooping heavily. “But you should know all about that, right?”

“Fuck you,” Jade hissed as she glared at him. She wanted to say worse, but she bit her tongue.

“Fuck you!” her father screeched as he slammed his hands against the wall again. Jade flinched slightly.  He laughed darkly and pushed off the wall. “You’re a disrespectful little cunt, you know that? Ever since you were born, I loved you like you were my own. I treated you like you were my own daughter, but you disrespected me from day one like the little shit you are.”

Jade’s scowl fell, along with her eyes. “I _am_ your daughter,” she denied quietly.

Her father picked up a candle and threw it at her, barely missing her head. The glass shattered and cut the top of her shoulder. She let out a noise of pain and held her cut. “You’re not my daughter!” he insisted. “My boy is my boy, but you ain’t my daughter. After Liam, I couldn’t have any more kids, but your mom wanted a baby girl. She wanted a baby girl so bad, but adoption wasn’t the way for her and we didn’t have money for nothin’ else.”

He reached back over to the bookcase and picked up a silver handgun with a black grip. He held the gun across both his hands and looked down at it with rueful eyes. “When I found out she was pregnant,” he began lowly, “I went out and bought this. I couldn’t…I couldn’t deal with knowing that Christine cheated on me, and I didn’t want to look at her bastard child every day until it left my house.”

He looked up to Jade with a small smile. “But something in me told me to be with Christine when she was in labor,” he continued, “So I went. I was there when you were born and I was the second face you finally saw when you finally opened your eyes. You were the prettiest baby I’d ever seen—prettier than your brother—and I couldn’t hate you. I told myself I’d pretend you were my child so I could have a beautiful little baby girl.”

His smile quickly retreated into a scowl and he switched his hold on the gun so he held it in his right hand, pointing it at her. “But you’re a worthless piece of shit that never deserved my love! I’ll fucking kill you!”

He fired the gun, but his depth perception and balance were off, so the bullet went to the ceiling. Jade screamed slightly and froze; she didn’t know what else to do. She couldn’t run, and waddling away at high speeds wouldn’t help her out in the slightest.

“I loved you, Jade,” Mr. West repeated lowly as he slowly moved toward her. “I loved you like you were my own daughter…”He lowered the gun and stood directly in front of her. “Where did I go wrong?”

Mr. West’s face grew darker and, before he could do anything else, Jade jammed a large shard of glass into his neck. She had been clinging to the picture of her family and she had broken the glass even more when he fired the gun and frightened her. There was a large gash in her hand, but the pain didn’t faze her.

Mr. West screamed out in pain and drunkenly stumbled backward. He dropped the gun and frantically reached for the shard to pull it out. As he fumbled with the shard, Jade quickly moved over to the gun and tried to pick it up. A sharp pain shot through her body and she let out a loud cry before falling to the bloodied carpet.

“You fucking bitch!” Mr. West slurred. “You could have killed me.” He quickly began to stagger toward her, but Jade managed to pick up the gun and clenched her eyes shut as she fired it. The pain in her stomach was blinding, but she tried to ignore it. She read about how women could go into early labor if they were frightened enough and she desperately hoped this wasn’t happening; she hoped the twins were just a little upset and trying to re-situate themselves.

Mr. West let out a shocked grunt. Jade opened her eyes to see his bloody fingers holding his stomach. He looked at her with shocked, pained eyes before falling to his knees. He spit up some blood that shot out onto her sweatshirt and face before he fell backward. He lay there for a short moment, his breathing shallow. Jade watched him intently, hoping he wouldn’t get up. When his hands fell limp and his chest stopped moving, she let out a sigh of relief.

The sharp pain returned to her stomach and she screamed again. It was like a large bolt of electricity shot through her and the pain was near crippling. With a shaking hand, she reached down to her pocket to pull out her phone. She groaned in agony when she saw her phone screen decorated in hundreds of tiny cracks. She tried to unlock it, but the screen was frozen and a glass shard lodged in her thumb.

Now, she let the frightened tears fall. She needed to get out of this house and to a hospital. If she really was going into labor, she didn’t want to have it in a pool of her (step)father’s blood. Her stomach started contracting and she screamed out in pain. But eventually, she wasn’t even sure if she was screaming anymore. Her blood rushed in her ears and hot tears spilled over her cheeks. She clung to her sweatshirt around her stomach and the phone landed on the carpet with a soft _thud_.

Over the course of the next four minutes, Jade drifted in and out of consciousness. Her children were kicking inside of her roughly and she was gasping for air. Time seemed to drag on, and she hoped Beck was going to come looking for her.

“ _What the fuck did you do?_ ” Liam screeched as he burst through the door. Jade lolled her head to the side to face him, her eyes barely open. Sweat was already beginning to bead on her forehead and her lower half felt wet.

Her water had officially broken.

Holy hell, did she want to scream in terror. Jade prayed to whatever God she wasn’t sure she believed in that this was just a pregnancy-induced nightmare and not reality. This wasn’t happening; this wasn’t happening.

“Why the fuck did you shoot him?” Liam shouted as he ran to his father. He grabbed the man’s face in his hands and patted it slightly. “Dad,” he called. “Dad, come on!” He grabbed one of his father’s limp wrists and tried to feel for a pulse. After a few seconds, he turned to Jade with tears brimming his furious eyes.

“You _killed_ him!”

He jumped on her, completely disregarding her stomach, and wrapped his hands around her pale neck. She let out weak noises of protest, but that only made him squeeze harder. “How could you?” he screamed through his tears. “How could you take both of them away from me?”

This was happening…

Jade felt herself on the brink of unconsciousness and her fingers slowly gripped the gun. She moved like she was weakly trying to push him off her and moved the gun so he wouldn’t notice it. She only had one chance to do this. Her eyes were closing and she hoped that the gun was pointed at her brother. He continued to scream at her, but she could barely hear it anymore.

“Get off her!”

Her eyes shot open as the familiar voice broke through her haze. “Beck,” she called out in a raspy voice.

Liam’s head shot to the doorway to find the younger boy standing there and started to jump off his sister when Jade pulled the trigger.

The deafening gunshot was the last thing she heard before she passed out.


	18. Daylight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mainly a flashback so you don't need to read it.

* * *

_“And when the daylight comes, I’ll have to go. But tonight, I’m gonna hold you so close. ‘Cause in the daylight, we’ll be on our own…” – Maroon 5_

* * *

I hate you _._

_That’s all I could think about as he took advantage me. Of course I could have come up with other, nastier things to say—with a few more choice words as well—but he was knocking me around too much for me to think straight._

_My father, like most nights, was passed out in the kitchen. The last time I checked on him, he was cuddling up to his bottle of Brandy. He had the nerve to bring a filthy hooker into the house and she left the upstairs smelling like sex and cocaine. She stole his wallet the minute he passed out downstairs, but Liam stopped her. Then he took back the money my dad gave her and kicked her out. As soon as Liam retreated to the kitchen, I snuck out of the house and gave her a hundred dollars out of my under-the-floorboard-between-the-first-floor-ceiling hiding place; I know what it’s like to get beaten up for something you didn’t mean to have happen, and hopefully the hundred wouldn’t get her beaten too badly by her pimp or whatever._

_When I was coming back into the house, I saw Liam take the Brandy bottle that was resting in my father’s tight grip and he drank straight from it. With a sigh, he took my mother’s picture (that my father kept on his nightstand) from my father’s hand and sat down beside the drunken rust bucket. I shook my head as he continued to swig from the bottle._

_I should have stopped him right then, but it wasn’t my place—in his eyes—to tell him what to do._

_Instead, I went up to my room like I always did. I’d rather work on my novels than clean up after my father and brother. I was scribbling down in my notebook—I’d long since given up writing on a computer since Liam occasionally threw me around the room. That’s how my laptop got broken and that’s why I’m saving up money; and it’s easier to un-crumble pages than try and piece back together a crushed laptop—when Liam burst through my door and staggered into my room._

_“You know that…hooker?” he slurred as took another swig of my father’s Brandy. He didn’t wait for my response. “That’s gonna be you in…_ tomorrow _!” He laughed at his sick joke and I rolled my eyes._

_“Can you just hit me and get it over with?” I spat. If I ever wanted anything, I wanted him to hit me. God knows what else he would do with alcohol in his system. He didn’t look like he was passing out any time soon._

_“You little whore,” my brother sneered. “What makes you think you can…talk to me like that?” He started to walk toward me and I quickly got off the bed. It shouldn’t be too hard to escape an intoxicated man, but he wasn’t as intoxicated as I thought. He threw my father’s liquor bottle at my head and it still managed to graze me. The glass cracked on the side of my forehead and knocked me to the ground. Brandy seeped into the gashes that were created and I screamed in pain._

_The next thing I knew, Liam was on top of me. He must have tripped or something. I opened my mouth to say something, but his lips plummeted down onto mine, preventing me from saying anything. I protested in loud mumbles and Liam began to laugh as he 'kissed' me._

_"You don't like that do you, whore?" he slurred. He laughed again. "Well you better get used to it, because it's all you'll ever be." He grabbed at the collar of my shirt and I weakly grabbed his wrist to stop him as he started to pull it._

_"Don't," I mumbled in a daze._

_Liam smacked me across the face, harder than he had ever before. "_ Don't _tell me what to do, slut," he sneered. "You give it away to that little piss-ant boyfriend of yours; that's what whores do. At least hookers get paid." He ripped my shirt, exposing the black lace bra I was going to let Beck see when I snuck out of the house later. It was his favorite._

_Liam smirked darkly. "Only whores wear this fancy shit," he told me. I spit blood in his face and sneered at him; it was the most I could do, thanks to my head wound._

_It was still enough to enrage him._

_He punched me in my eye. It wasn't until he dug his putrid fingers into my head gash that I cried out in pain. And that gave him the leeway to jam his tongue down my throat. One boy did that when I was ten and I kicked him in the nuts. I couldn't think straight enough to find my knee or bring it up into his crotch, so I lay there and let him viciously poke my tongue with his. I thought about biting it off, but his finger was rolling around in my wound, and I hoped he would stop if I gave in and complied to his wishes._

_I closed my eyes as he continued to attack my mouth, trying my damnedest to imagine Beck on top of me, kissing me lovingly. I found myself able to breathe when my brother took his fingers from my gash, but I kept it to myself as he yanked at my bra. He pulled on it so monstrously that the hooks broke and scratched me deeply. I sucked in my breath and Liam chuckled darkly._

_"Don't worry," he advised in a low, drunken voice, "Whores get used to this."_

_I tried to repress what happened after that. I didn't want to remember anything that happened after that. I couldn't—however—forget the feeling of him ripping me apart. He was rough and uncaring, which is something you can't repress, try as you might._

_Before he left when it was over, he shot words that pierced my heart._

_"Break up with that little shit stain you call a boyfriend," he demanded from my doorway, "You may be a whore, but you are mine and only mine."_

_I didn't cry until I heard him slam his bedroom door._

* * *

**_But tonight I need to hold you so close._ **

* * *

_I laid on the floor for at least half an hour, staring at my ceiling, before I decided to move._

_There's a stain on it from when I was six and Liam was eleven; it was my birthday and he fired a paintball gun all over. It hurt like hell when I got hit (but I didn't know what pain was at the time) and the ceiling was the only place we couldn't scrub the green paint from. I used to like that color, but now it belongs to him._

_When my right wall shook, I knew Liam had retreated to his room and gone to bed. And when I decided to finally remove myself from the pile of ripped fabric that could once be considered clothes, I made my way to the bathroom. I didn't care about walking around nude; everyone was passed out drunk and I needed to tend to my head immediately. As I looked in the bathroom mirror, I took note of the person looking back to me. Her dark hair was unruly, and blood mingled with her blue streaks. The gash ran from her hairline to her right temple. Yellow bruises were starting to form on her pale skin and her dark makeup smudged around her eyes._

_She was all that remained of Jade West._

_I had let her become this, and now there was no turning back._

* * *

**_But tonight I need to hold you so close_ **

* * *

_My mother kept a sewing kit in her room and I took some suture string from the hospital a long time ago, so I was able to stitch my wound. After downing three Ibuprofens, I covered it with a no stick gauze pad and put on makeup to cover the yellowing bruises. Then I rummaged through my closet for something decent to wear. I eventually decided on a shirt Beck left here a few months ago and some ripped jeans._

_I needed to get the shirt out of my house if I was going to do what Liam wanted._

_After getting dressed, I snuck out of my window and climbed down the flower ladder on the side of the house. Then I got in my car, leaving my door open, and put it in neutral. Couldn't risk waking the bastard or my father up. Once I was clear of the driveway, I got out and pushed my car in front of our neighboring house before getting back in and starting it up._

_The drive to Beck's was longer than it had ever been and I wanted to claw my eyes out. I left my PearPod at home and my radio was still busted, so I had to drive in silence. Once I pulled up to his RV, I honked the horn loudly, uncaring if I woke his parents up in their house._

_When he emerged from the RV in just his pajama bottoms, rubbing his eyes before running a hand through his mussed hair, I got out of the car. I smirked to myself as I took the sight of him in. For the rest of the night, the god that stood before me would be mine._

_"That's a nice shirt," Beck announced sleepily with a crooked smile._

_"Thanks," I laughed softly as I stuck my thumb in my pocket, walking up to him. "I got it off some guy. It's pretty valuable."_

_Beck chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist. "In that case," he began, nuzzling my neck, "I may just have to take it from you then."_

_I kissed him for a moment and dashed into his RV with a playful smile. He followed my lead and came after me. When he moved to turn on the lights, I put my hand on his. "Let's just keep them off for once," I suggested. He would ask too many questions if he saw the bandage. Hopefully his hand wouldn’t graze it._

_"Why? I wanna see you."_

_"You see me every day."_

_He chuckled again and took my hand, kissing it softly as he turned on the light. I waited with a scowl for him to look up at me. When he did, he sighed and gently touched my cheek. "Fall in a ditch again?" he asked tiredly. He was hoping I'd say 'no' and finally tell him what happened to me. His eyes wanted it more than I wanted things to go back to normal. But he was going to keep getting the lie, and he knew why. He was still gonna hope I'd tell him when I was ready. He'd be waiting a very long time._

_"Just kiss me," I pleaded softly as I closed my eyes. I didn't want to lie to him tonight._

_When I finally felt his lip on mine, I wrapped my arms around his neck and locked my fingers into his messy hair. He moved his hands to my waist and held me tightly. I moved backward until I sat on his bed and he crawled on top of me. His kisses began to grow hungrier as he started to want me and something felt...wrong._

_I pushed him back and jumped on top of him. When I started kissing him again, it didn't feel wrong anymore. It actually felt like the other times we'd made love, but the last time was a month ago. I guess…being on top made me feel like I was in power, or some other stupid psycho-jumble bullshit._

_I took my own clothes off and I threw his shirt to the back of the RV; I wouldn't be going home with it._

_Being with Beck, in the most intimate sense of the word, was good. When he held me in his arms, when he kissed my bare shoulder, and when we passed out beside each other when we'd had enough fun, I knew he loved me. If I wasn't sure about anything else, I knew he loved me then and there._

_That's why it killed me to leave him when I woke up at 3 AM._

* * *

**_But tonight I need to hold you so close_ **

* * *

_Beck called me when he woke up at seven. Normally he would have woken me up, but I didn’t go back to sleep when I got home._

“Where are you?”

_“I went home.”_

“I thought I was going to take you to school like I always do when you stay over.”

_“Well I guess you thought wrong, huh? I didn’t bring any clothes with me.”_

“You also didn’t take any back. Why’s my shirt here?”

_“You said you wanted it back, so I gave it to you.”_

“I didn’t want it back, Jade. I was only joking.”

_“Well now you have it back, so quit crying about it.”_

“I’m not crying, Jade. Why are you acting like this?”

_“Acting like what? Look, I’m curling my hair. I’ll see you at school.”_

“I love you…”

_I hung up without saying anything. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t tell him I loved him back. Liam wanted me to break up with him, but I couldn’t. So the only reasonable way to get my brother what he wanted was to get Beck to break up with me. Yeah, it would hurt, but he’d be able to do it without meaning to hurt me._

_And even if he did, it wouldn’t be so bad because I’d make him hate me._

* * *

**_But tonight I need to hold you so close._ **

* * *

_All day, he kept trying to ask me why I left him and I kept telling him the same thing, only angrier with each response. At one point, before Sikowitz’s class, he even dragged me off to the side to talk to me._

_“I mean it this time, Jade,” Beck started, “What’s wrong with you?”_

_“Nothing,” I snarled, yanking my arm from him. “Leave me alone about it already.”_

_“I can’t,” he assailed, “I can’t just sit by while my girlfriend acts like this. Is something going on with your dad?”_

_I scowled. “Nothing is going on with my dad,” I lied adamantly. “And even if there was, I’d be damned if I let you find out. My mother always told me: ‘What happens in this house, stays in this house,’ so mind your own business! It has nothing to do with you.”_

_Then I left him alone so I could pretend to listen to Sikowitz’s lecture._

_The day only went worse from there. Tori’s stupid phone was broken and making all sorts of annoying noises, Robbie was being a freak, and Sinjin made us be a part of his stupid game show idea. I played my part in annoying the hell out of Beck with my great dislike for dolphins, and in the midst of his anger, he shouted words I never wanted to hear from him._

_“I’m not happy with our relationship!”_

_Everything stopped and I crossed him arms, retreating to myself. This…is what I wanted to happen. But…I didn’t expect it to sound… I don’t know. Screw it. I got what I wanted and Liam gets what he wants. If I don’t get to be with Beck, then that’s what it’s gonna have to be. If he hates me, then my job is done._

_The rest of the day went by in a blur._

_Yeah, Liam hit me when I came home because I didn’t tell him where I was going, but what else was new? He touched me in a way that made me want to throw my guts up again, but I guess it was something I needed to get used to. I didn’t sleep last night, and—as Liam would say—I didn’t deserve it._

_Oh yeah, I guess I ran over Sinjin’s legs, but he should have known not to try and give out a trophy for ‘worst couple.’ He was asking for it._

_The next day at school was a bombshell. Beck was upset about getting that stupid trophy and I tried my hardest to avoid him. I’d seen my brother upset and I’d grown used to it, but I’d never seen my soon-to-be ex-boyfriend upset._

_God knows what he’d do._

_The worst of all I feared didn’t happen, but Beck and I argued more than usual. We shouted things that we couldn’t take back, texted profanity not meant for…anyone’s eyes really, and threw physical objects back and forth (with me doing most of the throwing)._

_And in the midst of all our fighting and screaming, I hurt the only person I really, truly care about more than Beck: Cat. Not only did I make her faint, but I called her a pet. As much as I hated to admit it, she was my best friend and I’d hurt her. I wanted to stop everything and just hold her tight, to let her know that I didn’t mean any of the things I was saying, but I was supposed to be mad, so I would have to force out an apology later._

_Everyone else—excluding Beck, of course—could go to hell._

_By the time Beck finally broke up with me before the night was over, I was numb from all that had happened. Thankfully, I’d built up a tolerance to all the pain I was inflicting on myself. I couldn’t feel anything anymore, even if I wanted to._

_For probably the only time in my life, even Liam’s punches couldn’t hurt me._


	19. On Top of the World

* * *

_“If you love somebody, better tell them while they’re here ’cause they just may run away from you; you’ll never know quite when. Well, then again, it just depends on how long of time is left for you.” – Imagine Dragons_

* * *

“When’s she gonna wake up?” Cat whined, fidgeting in her seat. It was hard to sit still with a 28-week old jitterbug bouncing in her tummy. Cassie also kept bothering Cat’s bladder, and Cat _really_ had to pee. If she didn’t go soon, she’d probably explode!

Robbie rubbed his thumb along her hand from the seat he sat in beside her. He still wore his hospital gown and the doctors had allowed him to stay in the room with Cat for a short amount of time, as long as he didn’t do any strenuous moving. “Just wait,” he pleaded softly. “She’ll wake up soon.”

Cat turned to him with sad eyes. “Will she be asleep as long as you were?” she asked fearfully. Her free hand fumbled with the hem of her lacy pink top.

Robbie smiled and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “No,” he breathed. “She was just under a lot of stress, but it won’t take long for her to wake up.”

Cat smiled and put her head on Robbie’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re awake,” she whispered. “Now I don’t have to be alone.”

Robbie picked up her hand and kissed her scarred wrist once more, closing his eyes and breathing in the fruity smell of her skin. “I’ll never leave you alone again,” he promised.

Cat closed her eyes, happy that she had Robbie back. He was really all she had left, and she wasn’t about to let him go just yet. Her happiness radiated down to Cassie who fluttered around in her mother’s stomach, bothering Cat’s bladder again. Cat frowned. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she spoke softly.

“Just use that one,” Tori told her friend as she pointed at the closed door a little away from Jade’s bed. “Could you hurry, though? I gotta go, too.”

Slowly, Cat pushed herself out of the chair. “Kay, kay,” she smiled. As soon as Cat stood up, her cell rang in her pocket. She pulled out the singing pink rectangle and answered with a sweet smile. Tori took this as her opportunity and hurried into the bathroom.

_“Miss Valentine,” a man started, “This is Dr. Nordstrom from the hospital.”_

“Hi, Dr. Nordstrom!” Cat exclaimed happily. “How are you?”

_The doctor chuckled slightly. “I’m fine, Miss Valentine,” he answered. “Thank you for asking.” He cleared his throat. “I’m calling about some scans regarding your baby.”_

Cat gasped. “Is she okay?” she asked worriedly.

Robbie stood and held Cat’s hand. “What’s going on?” he mouthed.

Cat shook her head and moved closer to him, putting her head on Robbie’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her protectively and rested his chin atop her head.

_“I’d much rather tell you in person,” Dr. Nordstrom told her. “Is there any way you could stop by the hospital today?”_

“I’m already here,” Cat announced quietly.

_“Oh,” Dr. Nordstrom uttered. “Well, where are you, Miss Valentine? I’ll come to you.”_

“Room 220,” Cat said absentmindedly. Her face twisted with worry. “Is my baby going to be okay?”

_“I’ll talk to you about her when I see you in person,” the doctor stated. “I’ll be there shortly.” He hung up without another word._

Cat huffed helplessly, pressing her cell tightly to her ear as Robbie held her a little tighter. “Cassie’s gonna be okay,” he assured her quietly.

“It’s probably nothing really serious,” Tori offered as she closed the bathroom door. She moved from to her friend and placed her hand on Cat’s shoulder. “The doctors wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.”

A knock sounded at the door and Cat stiffened in Robbie’s grasp.

“You made it,” Tori exhaled happily. Cat peered around Robbie and saw André standing with Robbie’s mother and a man she assumed to be Robbie’s stepfather. Tori went over to André with a broad grin; she’d called him earlier, asking if he could bring some of Robbie’s clothes, but André was reluctant since she told him her dad was there. Tori hurried to André and enveloped him into a hug; she wanted to add a kiss to that hug, but her disapproving father was in the room.

Cat relaxed and stepped back to allow Mrs. Taylor to rush Robbie into her arms.

“I’m so glad you’re awake,” Mrs. Taylor whispered as she held her son’s head against her shoulder. She kissed his wild, black curls repeatedly. She held onto her son tightly, kissing his head and letting small tears of happiness fall into his hair. Mr. Taylor also wrapped his arms around his wife and stepson, glad they were a family again.

Meanwhile, André reluctantly walked into the room with Tori on his arm. He moved to Officer Vega who sat in the corner and looked out the window, refusing to look at them.

"Dad," she breathed. He didn't move. "Dad, can we talk?"

"I don't want to talk to him, Tori," her father reminded her incredulously.

"Dad, please," she begged quietly. "Just give him five minutes."

With a scowl, David turned to his daughter and her boyfriend. He stood, towering menacingly over both of them. "Four," he allowed.

Tori beamed brightly and grabbed his hand, leading him outside the room with André a few feet behind them. Once outside, Tori held Andre's hand tightly for support. "André’s not a bad guy, Dad," Tori announced.

David grimaced. "He got you _pregnant_ , Tori," he said in repressed anger. " _You're_ barely seventeen, and I don't _care_ how old he is; neither of you know how to take care of a baby."

André cleared his throat when Tori got ready to say something, but David still didn't look at him. "I know you're really upset, Mr. Vega," he began. "But I've known your daughter for two years now. She's been my best friend for those two years and I fell in love with her.

"I know we're both young, but I've been taking care of my baby sister since I was ten; she's the happiest little eight year old I know.

"I helped Tori make the little boy inside her and I intend to help her raise him. I'll do whatever I can to be there for her and the baby. And one day, if she'll have me and we're both settled down, I hope to ask you for her and in marriage."

Tori gasped and fought back threatening tears of happiness. Instead, she reached out and grabbed her father's hand. Slowly, she put his hand on her stomach and she felt at peace when her baby's foot lightly fluttered against the spot where her father's hand rested. "That's your grandson in there," she announced with a shaking voice. She smiled weakly as she looked up at him. "He's gonna need a father just like me and Trina did; please, let André be there for our baby."

Tori could see that her father's face had softened. He held onto some of his anger, though, but he wasn't entirely sure it was anger. As he felt his grandson lightly grazing the bottom of his hand inside his daughter's belly, the realization hit him hard that his little girl was growing up. He wasn't ready for this, but David knew this day would come.

With a sigh, he took back his hand and looked at André. "I'm still not thrilled that you got my baby girl pregnant," he stated. He bit his lip for a moment as he looked to Tori. "But she's not a baby anymore." He paused, shutting his eyes, and turned back to André with frightening authority. "Even though she's not my baby anymore, she's still my daughter. If you say you're going to commit, you better make sure you keep your word and take care of her and _her_ baby, understand?" André nodded quickly. "And don't forget," David added with a small smirk, "I'm a cop."

André gulped and held Tori's hand a little tighter. "Y-yes s-sir," he stammered out. André flinched when David pat him on the arm before heading back into Jade's room.

Tori squealed slightly and grabbed André’s face, kissing him deeply. "I love you!" she exclaimed happily, but in a quiet tone.

André smiled in relief. "I love you, too," he breathed.

Dr. Nordstrom, a tall and young doctor with shining black hair and tired hazel eyes, walked past them as they kissed again and entered Jade's room. He spotted Cat sitting by Jade on the bed, looking down at her pink flats. "Miss Valentine," he called as he knocked on the doorframe. Cat looked up in shock. "Could you step outside with me for a moment?" he asked.

Solemnly, Cat nodded and stood. She scuffled to the doctor as Tori and André reentered the room. Dr. Nordstrom closed the door once Cat was outside. She clung to her stomach.

"Is my little girl gonna be okay?" she asked in her smallest voice.

Dr. Nordstrom looked down at his charts before looking back up at her. He wore a weak smile and sad eyes. "If you take good care of her," he started, "She should be." He cleared his throat. "But, looking over the ultrasound we took while you were here, it seems that your daughter may have achondroplasia."

Cat eyed him in confusion. "What's that?"

"It's a common cause of dwarfism," he explained. When Cat didn't look any less confused, he cleared his throat again. "It means...that your daughter may not grow to the average height for a woman; at most, the tallest she'll get would be 4-foot-1."

Cat smiled softly. "That's okay because I'm short!" she told him. "You had me worried for a second!"

Dr. Nordstrom frowned. "I'm afraid it might be more serious than you think, Miss Valentine," he stated. "If you _and_ the father carry the trait, both could be passed down and your daughter may not live past infancy."

Cat gasped.

"We can see whether or not this is the case," he told her reassuringly. "When you were here, we did some blood work and discovered that you do, in fact, carry the trait. However, we would need to test the father to see if he's a positive for the trait also. Is he here with you?"

Cat shook her head. "I don't talk to him," she announced quietly.

Dr. Nordstrom sighed softly, his young features falling. "It would be in the best interest of your daughter if you contacted the father and had him see us for testing."

Cat nodded. "Yes, sir," she breathed solemnly.

"Good day, Miss Valentine," the doctor bid hesitantly.

Holding back her tears, Cat turned around to head back inside. Her little girl wasn't going to be perfect, but Cat didn't care as long as she could have her. She wouldn’t care if Cassie was only two feet tall, as long as Cat got to raise her baby. But, the doctor instilled fear in her and she would have to do the one thing she never wanted to do again.

Slowly, Cat opened the door and a tear fell from her eye.

"What's wrong, Cat?" Jade asked hoarsely from her bed.

Cat's head shot up as she gasped. "Jade!" she exclaimed happily. She hurried to her friend and hugged her, being careful not to hug too tightly. "You're okay!"

Jade laughed as she weakly hugged her friend back. "You didn't think I'd leave you all alone did you?" she asked in her raspy voice as she put her chin on Cat's shoulder.

Cat pulled away and grabbed Jade's hand. "Come see your babies!"

Beck leaned over and placed his hand on top of Cat's. "We should wait for the doctor before she does that," he announced.

"Well call him!" Cat pleaded, bouncing slightly. She turned toward Jade's in-room bathroom. "I gotta pee!" She ran toward the door and ripped it open, slamming it once she was inside.

Jade smiled and turned to Beck. "So where is he?" she asked, dropping the smile from her face.

"You shot him," Beck answered quietly when everyone went back to their own conversations.

"Is he dead?"

Beck shook his head. "He's paralyzed from the waist down and they're gonna take him back to jail, more than likely without chance of parole."

"Good," Jade breathed, relaxing slightly. "Now call the doctor; I wanna see my kids."

* * *

**_You can have it all, but life keeps moving_ **

* * *

Minutes later, the doctor came in with a wheelchair and OK'd Jade to go see her babies. Robbie was asked to return to his room and his parents went with him. He gave Cat a small kiss before she went with André, the Vegas, Beck, and Jade to see the twins.

When they made their way down the hall, they reached the window that separated them all from a room full of newborns. The doctor pointed out two small babies that lay side by side in pink and blue holders near the edge of the room, nearly close to the window.

"There they are, Miss West," she announced. "A healthy baby boy and girl. They'll need a lot more care since they're premature. Have you thought of any names?"

Jade looked up to Beck after taking in the sight of her beautiful baby girl. The tiny child lay flatly on her back, arms stretched on either side of her head. Her tiny belly rose and fell with each breath and she had a patch of black hair covering her tan head.

She was beautiful.

"I want the little girl to be named ‘Darla Raquel’,” she announced with a wide smile. "I was gonna let the father name the boy."

Beck smiled down at her and kisses the top of her head.

"I'll go get a nurse so she can put it on the certificates," Dr. Monroe announced. "Think about it while you wait."

Beck looked back into the room full of newborns and smiled. Jade’s son—his son—squirmed slightly in his little bed. His skin was lighter than his sister’s and his eyes were open; from the looks of it, the baby’s eyes were blue. Tufts of blonde hair outlined the contour of his head. Beck had read that some babies can be born with light skin, hair, and eyes, and everything will darken as they grow older; he hoped this baby would do the same. "I like the name ‘Jensen’,” he announced.

Jade rubbed the top of his hand, proud of her boyfriend for choosing the name of one of her favorite actors. She looked back into the room and gazed at her fidgety son. "What about a middle name?"

"Well, you like the name ‘Axel’,” he pointed out. "I was thinking we could name him ‘Jared Axel Colton’.”

Jade's smile twitched. That was a bit of a mouthful, but it didn't sound _extremely_ stupid. She would grow to like it.

"If our son's gonna have four names," she started slowly, "Then so should our daughter. We'll name her ‘Darla _Elise_ Raquel,’ after your mother."

Beck, a wide grin on his face, was about to say something when Cat piped up.

"What are their last names gonna be?" she asked innocently.

Jade looked back at her friend in hesitation. That was actually a good question. If she married Beck later on, she would without a doubt take his last name. But she wasn't married right now, and she didn't want her kids to still have her last name if she was going to take another; that would be complicated. And if—God forbid—they _didn’t_ get married, but Jade put Beck’s last name on their certificates, she’d probably look like a stalker…

Beck cleared his throat. "I've been thinking about that for a while now," he announced. He reached into his back pocket and produced a little black velvet box. He knelt down in front of Jade and opened the box, revealing a beautiful .5 carat circular diamond ring with a simple 18K white gold band. Everyone gasped. "I was hoping they'd take my last name," he stated. "Just like I hope their mother will."

Jade lurched forward in her wheelchair and grabbed Beck's face, kissing him deeply. "I was wondering when you were gonna ask," she whispered with a small smirk.

* * *

**_You can have it all, but life keeps moving_ **

* * *

Jade and Robbie had to spend the weekend in the hospital to recuperate. That left Beck and Cat all alone. Cat, however, didn't want to stay in Jade's house anymore and didn't even want to go inside when Beck packed up some overnight stuff. Instead, Beck paid for the two of them to stay in a nice hotel.

Monday morning started Spring Break for Hollywood Arts, giving the students an entire week to themselves. Beck decided he would make use of this time and woke up early. He woke Cat as well and they loaded their things into the back of his truck.

"Are we gonna bring Jade home today?” she asked as she settled in the passenger’s seat.

Beck nodded. “But not yet.”

“Where are we going?”

“I have a surprise for Jade,” Beck announced with a small smirk as he started his truck.

Cat gasped. “What is it?”

Beck turned around to pull out of the parking lot. “I bought a new house,” he stated with a wide grin as he backed the truck out.

Cat gasped and held her mouth. “Where is it?” she questioned when she moved her hand.

“Twenty minutes east of UCLA,” he replied as he turned around in the seat. “I want you to help me paint it.”

“I love painting!” Cat exclaimed with wide-eyed, child-like glee. Then, her face fell. “But…where am I gonna stay?”

Beck laughed softly. “With us, of course,” he assured her. “It’s a four bedroom home. You and Cassie are gonna fit right in. And you’ll get your own room. Right now, we’ll put all the babies in one room and separate them when they get older.”

Cat clapped her hands happily. “I can’t wait!” She bounced in her seat slightly, excitement overwhelming her. She was gonna paint her room like her room back home and she’d help Beck paint the room for the babies. She’d even sketch little dragons and princesses and lions and horses!

“Beck?” she called when she settled down.

“Yeah?”

“How’d you afford to buy a house _and_ a ring for Jade?”

“I saved up,” he answered simply. “I’d been saving money since I was thirteen because I wanted a car. I bought this truck from a family friend when I was fifteen and that took out a big chunk of my money. But I earned a lot of it back and I had a little over five thousand.” He looked at Cat out of the corner of his eye with a devilish smirk. “Don’t tell Jade,” he began, “But the ring cost $1,000.”

Cat choked on her own spit and started coughing slightly. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed when she could breathe. “You know Jade doesn’t like expensive things!”

Beck shrugged. “I wanted her to have something really nice,” he told her. “This seemed like the best thing I could get her without her ripping my head off.”

“How can you buy a house with $4,000?” Cat inquired fidgeting with the hem of her sky blue maternity dress.

“You can’t,” Beck replied. “But you can start making payments. The house I found is $26,000. When I told my parents that I was going to move in with Jade and keep an eye on her, they told me that they put aside some money for me to try and buy a house. They gave me the $15,000 they’d been saving since they got married. On top of that, I put down twenty-eight hundred on the mortgage; so if I pay two hundred a month, the house will be ours in a little over three years.”

Cat squealed. “That’s amazing!” she cheered. “Jade’s so lucky to have you.”

She could have sworn she saw Beck blush.

* * *

**_You can have it all, but life keeps moving_ **

* * *

Cat had fun picking out paint and brushes with Beck and was excited about painting the rooms. They ended up running around the store, jousting with long paintbrushes before they left. But, before she could paint the house, there was something else she needed to do first.

“Beck,” Cat whispered as he started his truck.

“Yeah?”

She looked up at him with sheepish eyes. “Could you…take me to my old house?” she requested skittishly. “I need to see my mommy.”

“Are you sure?” he questioned, worry filling his features.

Cat nodded. “Today’s her birthday and I have to give her the present I got her,” she explained.

“Alright,” Beck allowed. “If that’s really what you want…”

“It is.”

Wordlessly, Beck pulled out of the Deco Depot parking lot and drove to Cat’s former address. Together, the two rode in silence as Cat fidgeted with the hem of her red maternity dress. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about going to see her mother, and she wasn’t exactly sure her mother wanted to see her. But she had been planning on this birthday gift for a long time now and she wanted to make her mother happy again. By now, Bryce had probably broken something or set something on fire, and Cat hoped her gift would make up for her brother’s crazy antics.

As Beck pulled into her old driveway, she felt a lump form in her throat. Could she go through with this?

“Are you sure you want to see her?” Beck asked. “Do you want me to go with you?”

“Yes and no,” Cat answered after a moment of silence as she looked at her hands. With a deep breath, she opened the glove box and pulled out a shiny blue, wrapped box. She pushed open Beck’s door and marched up to the front door before she knew what she was doing. When her finger was about to touch the doorbell, she froze.

Then, Bryce opened the door. “Kitty,” he breathed in shock. He rushed her into his arms. “I missed you! Where did you go?”

Slowly, Cat hugged her brother back. “I was staying with Jade,” she told him.

Bryce held Cat out at arms’ length, scanning her up and down with a broad smile. “You’re glowing, little Sis,” he said. He frowned. “I tried calling you.”

Cat sighed. “When I switched phone companies, I had to change my number,” she explained. “My old phone got broken, too, and I lost a lot of numbers.”

“Are you gonna ask Mom if you can come back home?” he questioned softly.

Cat shook her head and held up her present. “I just wanted to wish Mommy a happy birthday.”

Bryce smiled at his sister and kissed her forehead. Then, he turned around into the house. “Mom!” he called. “You have a visitor!”

Moments later, Mrs. Valentine emerged from the kitchen, her face filled with shock when she saw her daughter in the doorway. “Cat!” she cried as she ran to meet her child. Bryce moved out of the way to allow his mother to envelope his sister in her arms. “My baby! Oh my god, I thought you were hurt!” She kissed Cat all over her head, tears of relief falling from her face. “I read about what happened to your friend. Are you okay?”

Cat wrenched herself out of her mother’s grasp. “Yes, ma’am,” she answered politely. “The mean man’s in jail and he’s not coming back.” She looked down at the box in her hands and held it out to her mother. “Happy birthday!” she exclaimed meekly.

Mrs. Valentine smiled in pleased disbelief. It amazed her how she could be so horrible to her own child, yet her child still loved and cared about her enough to remember her birthday. It was amazing how her daughter would still come back, even after she had been kicked out.

It was utterly unbelievable that Mrs. Valentine had the gall to throw her only daughter out on the streets, pregnant or not.

Slowly, she took the present from Cat. She neatly unwrapped it, peeling off the tape on the corners and edge before folding back the paper. She held the paper in her free hand as she stared at a long, black velvet box in her other hand. With her thumb, she flipped the box open to reveal a beautiful golden necklace with a heart shaped locket. On the front of the heart, Cat had ‘ _Valentine_ ’ engraved in cursive. Mrs. Valentine gasped and looked up at her daughter, a single tear falling from her eye.

She hugged Cat tightly again, sobbing lightly on her daughter’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, baby,” she breathed, clenching her eyes shut and breathing in the calming smell of her daughter’s strawberry shampoo. “I was so wrong for what I did and I love you so much…” She pulled away from her daughter and held her out at arms’ length. “Do you want to come back home?” she asked with pleading eyes. “You and your daughter are welcome here; this is your home.”

Cat sighed and stepped back. She held herself tightly as her mother’s arms fell. “I can’t,” she said. She smiled weakly. “I’m having a baby, Mommy, and it’s time for me to grow up. I’m…I’m staying with Beck and Jade…and I’m gonna go to college. I want to show you that I can do this, but I can’t do that if I live with you. There’s a lot of stuff I need to learn, and Jade and I are gonna learn that stuff together. But…I’ll come visit you…and I’ll bring Cassie with me.”

Mrs. Valentine smiled and brought a hand to her mouth. “You’re having a little girl?”

Cat beamed brightly as she nodded, and tears started to well in her eyes. “She’s gonna be a princess,” she announced as her hands slid down to her stomach.

Mrs. Valentine laughed slightly and moved to place her hand on Cat’s shoulder. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother, Caterina,” she stated. She kissed her daughter’s forehead. “I’m so proud of you.”

Cat kissed her mother’s cheek. “I love you, Mommy.”

Mrs. Valentine hugged her daughter once more. “I love you, too, baby,” she whispered. “There will always be a place for you and Cassie here.”

“Thank you,” Cat acknowledged as she pulled away. “I’ll call you when Cassie gets here.”

“When will that be?” her mother asked fearfully as Cat made her way to Beck’s truck.

The younger Valentine woman looked over her shoulder as she opened the door. “Twelve weeks!” she exclaimed with a bright smile as she climbed in the truck. She waved goodbye to her mother and brother. “I love you both!”

Bryce and his mother called back to her as Beck pulled out of their driveway and he drove off toward the new house. As he drove, he reached out and grabbed her hand, running his thumb gently over her skin. “Are you okay?” he asked protectively ask he kept his eyes on the road.

Cat nodded, though Beck didn’t see. “Yeah,” she answered. “I’m happy.” She bounced in her seat. “Are we gonna go paint now?”

Beck laughed softly. “We’re on our way.”

* * *

**_You can have it all, but life keeps moving_ **

* * *

Painting various parts of the house was probably the most fun Cat had ever had.

Seeing the magnificent two-story house was a wonder in and of itself. It was in a beautiful neighborhood with green grass and flowers everywhere and the outside looked like it had been freshly remodeled. Beck didn’t tell her, but it was a bank owned house. The previous owners couldn’t afford it and sold it to the bank. But in three years, the house would whole-heartedly belong to Beck, Jade, Cat, and their children.

When they went to the Deco Depot, Beck had found designated ‘paint clothes’ that people had donated to the store and found a T-shirt and overalls that would fit Cat perfectly. She’d put her long red hair up in a little bun and wore a white painter’s mask for safety. Beck wore loose jeans and a plain white Tee, both splattered in various blues, reds, and yellows.

Over the course of five hours, they managed to paint the majority of the house. They started in the living room and painted it a calming cream color. Beck ended up with a big cream-colored handprint on his butt and Cat had cream-colored whiskers. They left the kitchen how it was because the subtle brown color seemed to fit. When they moved up the stairs to the room that was meant to be Beck and Jade’s, they painted the walls a dark purple with black molding. Purple was one of the very few colors Beck and Jade agreed on and the black molding at the tops and bottoms of the walls would be a nice accent.

As they moved to Cat’s room down the hall—the second largest room—Cat readied her brush with hot pink paint. Beck dipped a paint roller into the pink mush and, right before he was about to touch the wall, Cat flicked paint at him. Laughing, Beck picked up a brush and threw paint back at her. Splotches of various sizes wound up on the walls and on their clothes. When Cat had to take a bathroom break—thankful that Beck had the plumbing turned on the previous night—she returned to the splotchy room and decided that’s how she wanted to keep it. There were several large white spots, but she decided that it made her room look like she was surrounded by funny colored giraffes.

She loved it.

The last room they decided they wanted to paint would be the nursery. The room sat between Cat’s and the master bedroom and was slightly smaller than Cat’s. Together, Beck and Cat painted the room a light green; Beck knew that Jade wouldn’t want to assign gender-specific colors to the room and Cat wanted Cassie’s favorite color to be green. He hoped Jade would like the situation.

And with Beck’s help, Cat sketched unicorns and knights and princesses with their princes all over the walls. The room was filled with several storybook characters like Snow White, Cinderella, and even The Little Mermaid. With a ladder, Beck painted ‘ _Angels watch over_ ’ in cursive and white paint on the wall opposite the door to let everyone know that the three children would be protected.

When they were finished, Beck told Cat to go wash up and change back into her regular clothes so they could surprise Jade when she got home. Happily, Cat whipped away her cream whiskers and scrubbed away the paint on her skin. She replaced her overalls and T-shirt for her silky red maternity dress and black flats.

As she made her way downstairs, Beck emerged from the bathroom downstairs in his regular black shirt, denim jacket, jeans, and boots. He smiled up to Cat. “Ready?”

“Yeah!” she exclaimed happily. She took his hand and dragged him outside as he laughed at how adorable she was. As she ran to the truck, he locked up their brand new house and joined her in the large cab.

Then they set off to bring Jade and Robbie home.


	20. Scene Two - Roger Rabbit

* * *

_“Nobody's gonna hold your hand and guide you through. No, it's up for you to understand nobody's gonna feel your pain when all is done and it's time for you to walk away. So when you have today, you should say all that you have to say.” – Sleeping With Sirens_

* * *

 

_The lack of air kept Jade in and out of consciousness. One minute, her terrible brother was lying on the floor beside her while Beck leaned over her. And the next, she was on a gurney in what she assumed to be an ambulance with Beck holding her hand._

_Jade struggled to look up at him and found him on his phone. His words were slightly garbled, but she could hear him telling someone that she might be going into labor. Of course she was going into labor; her freaking water broke!_

_Jade tugged on Beck’s hand tightly with her small amount of strength and he looked down. He hung up the phone and put it on his lap, touching her cheek with his now free hand. He smiled slightly. “You’re okay,” he breathed. “You’re gonna be fine.” He let go of her hand and put it on her stomach. “We’re gonna get you to the hospital.”_

_Jade huffed and the air spiraled around her nose and mouth. She realized she was wearing an oxygen mask to regulate her breathing. With her free hand, she grabbed the mask and pulled it off._

_“Don’t do that, Miss,” a paramedic ordered calmly._

_Jade’s lips fell into a sneer and she flipped the paramedic off, keeping her eyes on Beck. Then she reached for Beck’s hand. “Where’s…Liam?” she managed with a hoarse voice._

_Beck leaned in and kissed Jade gently. “Don’t worry about it,” he told her softly. “You’re safe from him; just focus on the babies…”_

_Jade sighed and her eyelids grew heavy. She hadn’t realized she’d passed out until she woke up with wildly beeping machines and green-scrubbed doctors surrounding her. She had her hospital gown pulled up under her chest, a blue tarp-like fabric sectioning off the bottom of her body, and one of the doctors standing in front of her, scalpel in hand._

_She also couldn’t feel the lower half of her body._

_Jade reached out for the nearest blunt object she could find and managed to throw a bedpan at the masked doctor while screaming out an intangible “no.”_

_Beck, who stood in the back corner, smirked to himself and took his place by her side when a few doctors cleared the room, totally unfazed by her outburst. He wore blue scrubs like the other doctors. “I told them you wouldn’t want a C-section,” he began coolly, “But they didn’t listen.”_

_Jade looked up at him with thankful eyes and looked back to the doctor who was going to cut her open. “Get over here!” she screamed in her rasping voice._

_The masked doctor jumped and scurried over to her, removing the tarp and motioning for two other doctors to come up and hold her legs. To Jade’s pleasant surprise, he told her that she had already dilated to ten centimeters._

_By the time she was ready to deliver, Jade thought she would be used to tormenting pain. However, childbirth proved to be more painful than anything her brother had ever done to her. One time, when she was younger, a basketball goal fell on her and a metal rod lodged itself into her inner thigh; it went completely through and she had to get ten stitches on both side of her leg, making it extremely uncomfortable to walk for weeks. Childbirth felt like that rod in her leg…only twenty times worse._

_With all her screaming, Jade wasn’t even sure she heard the babies take their first, loud, whaling breath._

_Darla came out first and Jade’s pain settled once the little girl was out of her. Breathlessly, she watched as the doctor got an aid to get a small towel to put around the tiny girl and her face lit up as she held her little girl in her arms._

_She didn’t have long to hold her little angel before Jensen was ready to go. His delivery took longer than she would have wanted, but she was utterly and exhaustedly ecstatic that he was out of her. She held him and played with his little fingers as the doctors cleaned up Darla. And after each baby was born, Beck was there to cut the umbilical cords with tears in his eyes as he took in the sight of each beautiful child._

_Her children were the last things Jade saw before she fell asleep._

Now, Monday morning, Jade made sure they were the first faces she saw when she woke up. The hospital still had a policy of placing babies in the nursery, and the West-Oliver twins were sent there effective immediately while their mother fell asleep.

Saturday night, however, after visiting hours were over and Beck took Cat home, Jade threatened a nurse or two and her little angels were wheeled to their mother’s room in their fancy little Plexiglas-walled beds. The woke her up probably once or twice during the night, but otherwise slept soundly.

Yesterday, Cat and Beck spent the whole day with Jade and her babies. To her joy, Darla and Jensen weren’t fussy and didn’t mind being around people…even though their mother refused to let anyone else touch them. After the twins were born, Jade was furious in finding her children in the room with the other babies; while she trusted the doctors not to hurt the twins and while she realized they needed a little extra care since they were premature, she didn’t fancy the idea of anyone but _her_ touching them. As it was now, Beck and Cat weren’t allowed to hold the babies, but they could play with the twins’ tiny feet and hands.

As Jade looked into the little Plexiglas-walled beds that held her son and daughter, Jade smiled to herself; she’d made a beautiful baby girl and a handsome baby boy, both with chubby little sleeping faces. They lay flat on their backs with their faces to the sky, as if to greet whoever walked past. She hoped, however, they wouldn’t grow up to like _too_ many people since their mother sure as hell didn’t.

Jade looked to Jensen and sighed. When Liam was born, he had blonde hair, too. As of right now, she had no doubt that Liam wasn’t the father of baby Darla, but she was second guessing herself about her little man. She hoped to God his hair and skin would grow a bit darker, otherwise she’d have to grab a few more hair dye bottles just to get through the night.

With a content sigh, Jade reached down into the little glass cribs and held Darla and Jensen’s tiny little hands. Both of them reflexively wrapped their hands around one of Jade’s fingers and she smiled softly. “I love you both,” she whispered. “Don’t ever forget that.”

* * *

_**When you have today, you should say all that you have to say** _

* * *

Suffice to say, Jade hated hospitals.

When she woke up after delivery, Beck surprised her yet again by managing to buy her a new phone; she would pay him back later when she went home and got her money. It was the downgraded version of her old phone, but it would serve its purposes. She wasn’t big on all that fancy stuff either. She only had that fancy PearPhone because her stepfather had gotten it for her when he got his bonus before he blew it all on strippers.

Now, the phone was buzzing and playing an annoyingly upbeat tone, waking up the babies.

Jade groaned and mentally swore at herself for being stupid enough to play it so loudly.

On the bright side, her alarm was set for four pm—the time the doctors said she would be able to go home. Beck was there when the doctor told her and told him to be here at _exactly_ four.

While Jade tended to her crying babies after turning off her alarm, Beck sauntered in on cue carrying a fresh set of folded clothes. But as much as she loathed the idea, he brought her some black sweatpants and a clean black undershirt along with black tennis shoes. It was too hot for sweatpants, but that would be one of the only things she could wear until she worked off what was left of her baby bump. She was glad the majority of it went away after the afterbirth was gone, and now she was left with just a small lump that couldn’t fit in her skinny jeans.

“Hello, Mama West,” Beck greeted with a warm smile.

Jade rolled her eyes. “Don’t call me that,” she ordered as she took the clothes from him. As she got close to him, she noticed a small cream-colored smudge under his chin when he turned his head before going to shut the door. She raised an eyebrow. “Where’s Cat?”

“She’s waiting in the truck,” he answered once the door was closed. “You want me to turn around?”

Jade smirked as she pulled up her hospital gown and revealed her undergarments. “It’s not the first time you’ve seen me undress,” she pointed out. She strode over to Beck with a sexy smirk. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. “And it won’t be the last.”

Beck smiled into the kiss and placed his hands on Jade’s hips, his fingers brushing against the bare skin. His touch felt warm to Jade, and it felt like he was holding back.

Jade pressed herself closer to him and dug her nails into his hair as she kissed him hungrily. Her stomach was a little sore—as to be expected—but she needed to be close to him. She missed the feeling of his body against hers and she was beginning to feel alive again. Sure, she’d slept next him every night after Liam’s apprehension, but it wasn’t the same with a pregnancy belly between them.

Reluctantly, Beck broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against his fiancée’s as his jeans began to grow a little tighter. “Remember what the doctor said,” he reminded breathlessly.

“Screw the doctor,” Jade mumbled.

Beck laughed softly, keeping his eyes closed. “Six weeks isn’t that long of a wait,” he offered. “Besides, Cat’s waiting in the truck.”

“Let her wait…”

“The kids are in the room,” Beck pointed out opening his eyes and pulling back a little more.

“They won’t remember it anyway,” Jade stated loudly.

Beck stepped away from her and crossed his arms. “What’s wrong with you, Jade?” he spat. “Why are you acting like this?”

“Is it so wrong that I want to be near you?” she shouted back. Darla and Jensen began to cry, sensing their mother’s discontent.

“It’s not, Jade, and you know that!” Beck yelled over the children. “I’m just trying to make sure you don’t get hurt anymore! If the doctor said you can’t have sex for six weeks, then I’m gonna make sure you stay safe!”

Jade scowled and crossed her arms. “You’re lucky I love you,” she grumbled in defeat.

Beck smirked at her and started to reach over to pick one of the babies up, but Jade quickly slapped his hand away.

“No touching,” she hissed.

Beck sighed and backed away with his hands raised in surrender. “Just get dressed, please.”

“Don’t order me around,” she commanded as she pulled on her tank top. “They’ll stop if you’re quiet.” She quickly put on her sweatpants and slipped on her socks and shoes. As she finished dressing, Darla and Jensen started to settle down and their crying subsided.

* * *

_**When you have today, you should say all that you have to say** _

* * *

Jade followed Beck out of the hospital carrying her babies like the proud mother she was. She could hardly wait to see how they would grow up and make her even more proud than she already was.

While she didn’t want the babies to grow up in the house she was raised in, she looked forward to tacking their heights on the wall as well as videotaping their first steps, their first words, their first days of school, and many more wondrous milestones. She looked forward to see how they would grow up.

She knew for sure that Jensen would grow up to be a heartthrob, and his mom would be there to scare the annoying girls away. Maybe he would take up sports and be an all-star athlete. Maybe he would follow in Beck’s footsteps and be a brilliant actor.

Whatever he did, Jade hoped that Darla would always be right by his side.

Maybe Darla would be the athlete of the family if her brother wasn’t. Jade liked the idea of her little girl growing up to be the captain of the best volleyball or basketball team. She knew Darla would be a beautiful girl, but she hoped her little girl would know how to take charge of a situation the way her mother did. Jade would be okay if Darla was a girly girl—since Cat would be her doting aunt—and she secretly hoped Darla would grow up to be a model since she was _obviously_ Beck’s daughter. Maybe her little girl would take up her mother’s secret passion of cooking and become a culinary genius.

Whoever the twins grew up to be, Jade would love them forever and always stand by them.

She would have to scrub down the house, bleach the carpets, and clean up the mess Liam and his father left behind, but Jade would make a great home for her family of six. Hopefully, a few years down the line, she and Beck would be able to afford a decent house. They’d take Cat and Cassie with them and the three children would grow up happily with their less-than-conventional parents.

As the Olivers made their way to Beck’s truck, Jade saw Cat in the front seat and decided to be generous and let her stay there. It would be easier to hold the babies if she sat in the backseat.

“Where’s Robbie?” Cat questioned worriedly as Beck opened the backdoor for Jade.

“He went home this morning,” Jade answered absentmindedly as she situated herself in the backseat. Beck closed her door and moved around to the driver’s side.

Cat hummed sadly. “But he was supposed to come home with us,” she said quietly.

“His mom came and got him,” Jade told her as she put her back against the door and propped Darla and Jensen on her knees. She touched their little noses and kissed them both on the forehead lovingly. “I love you,” she whispered quietly.

Cat sighed and put her hand on her stomach to soothe Cassie. She said something else, but Jade wasn’t paying attention to anything but the little angels in her lap.

Cat told herself that Jade was a mother now and the babies needed more attention than she did, but it was still hard for her not to cry. She turned her head toward the window and hoped Beck wouldn’t see her.

* * *

_**When you have today, you should say all that you have to say** _

* * *

Lucky for Beck, Jade paid more attention to the twins than she did to the road. He drove carefully to avoid any speed bumps and potholes since he was taking a different road home, and he kept glancing into the rearview mirror to make sure Jade wasn’t looking. Whenever Jade got the feeling Beck was watching her and looked up at him, he quickly looked away and pretended to readjust himself so she wouldn’t get suspicious.

He knew that she would ask questions eventually, maybe accuse him of kidnapping, but he also knew she would get over it when she saw the magnificent and well-deserved surprise waiting for her.

After a ten minute drive, Beck pulled into the driveway of their new home and parked the truck.

“As much as I hate it,” Jade started once the truck stopped, smiling down at her babies, “It’s good to be home.” She scooped up her babies in her arms and turned around to put her back against the seat while she waited for Beck to open her door. Her smile fell when she looked at the unfamiliar two-story building through the windshield. “If we were home…”

Beck opened the door skeptically and Jade climbed out of the truck, eyeing her fiancé skeptically. “Where the hell are we?” she spat.

Cat gasped. “You said a bad word!” she exclaimed as she got out of the truck.

“Shut up, Cat,” Jade griped, keeping her eyes locked on Beck. She clenched her teeth and her mouth fell into its trademark scowl. “Where are we?”

“We’re home,” Beck replied with a mischievous smile.

Jade raised an eyebrow and looked back to the house. Her face relaxed slightly as the realization set in; she should have known something was up by the—what she assumed to be—paint splotch on his chin. “You didn’t…”

Cat jumped happily. “Come see the new house!” she exclaimed. “It’s so pretty!” She placed her hand on Jade’s shoulder and smiled brightly. “Come on!”

Realizing she couldn’t grab Jade’s hand, Cat skipped along in front and stopped when she reached the door. Beck and Jade were right behind her, Jade scowling the entire time.

Coolly, Beck pulled out his key ring and tossed it in the air, catching it effortlessly before unlocking the door. When he unlocked the door, Cat peered inside and gasped.

“Robbie!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

When Jade looked into the darkened house, she saw Robbie sitting on the sofa Beck and Cat had brought in earlier with a small cup in his hand. He smiled broadly at Cat. “I wanted to surprise you,” he answered. With a small noise of struggle, Robbie pushed himself up off the couch and stood unevenly, clenching the cup tightly. He looked to Jade. “And I brought some friends.”

Then, the lights flipped on and the girls from the baby shower—as well as André and some guys from school—jumped out and yelled, “Surprise!”

Cat squealed in happiness and Jade looked on with another raised eyebrow. “What’s this?” she asked quietly.

“It’s a baby shower, slash house warming party!” Tori exclaimed with a wide grin as she moved around the couch. “It’s…a belated baby shower for you,” she announced, gesturing at Jade’s twins, “But we thought you still deserved one. You didn’t even get to open your presents.”

Jade smirked. “That’s really nice of you, Vega.”

“Here’s hoping we get to finish this one!” Trina toasted, raising her red cup in the air. Some people skeptically laughed, but they all stopped when Jade glared at them and Trina shrank back slightly.

* * *

_**When you have today, you should say all that you have to say** _

* * *

While Darla and Jensen were quiet around Beck and Cat, they didn’t enjoy the company of fifteen other people. The moment several of the guests came over to greet the newborns, they started wailing in terror. Jade laughed and delighted in making every one of the guests step away from her.

And because of the crying babies, everyone decided to let Jade open her shower gifts since there were two already built cribs for her. Jade stood by the staircase while Beck brought over her presents and everyone else sat on the couch. When he took the cribs out of their giant boxes, he and André hoisted them up the stairs, Jade not far behind. Then, Jade begrudgingly placed her babies in their new beds where they quickly fell asleep, and went downstairs to rejoin the party.

The majority of her gifts were diapers and baby clothes, but what else was there to get for little people who couldn’t do much other than sleep, eat, and cry?

Jade didn’t much care for the party and spent most of it wishing she was up in the nursery with her babies. She stayed by Beck’s side through the majority of the party and didn’t do much socializing.

Cat, however, loved every minute of it, and Cassie did too; the little Valentine jumped and kicked inside her mother’s stomach and Cat let everyone take turns feeling her stomach. Well, everyone except Sinjin; he creeped her out, despite her happiness.

Cat managed to gravitate toward Robbie during the middle of the party and spent the rest of it on the couch, nestled up against him. At first, he was nervous about having Cat so close to him. He had wanted this for so long, to be near her, to have her strawberry-scented hair so close to his nose, to feel the warmth of her body against his…

Robbie refused to move when Cat sat beside him; he was terrified of doing anything for the fear that he would creep her out and make her waddle away. He knew how she felt about him, but he was still paranoid. Actually, he wasn’t exactly sure where they stood in their relationship. He had about four hours with her before he was comatose for three months, and they’d slept through most of that four hours. They kissed, but did that mean she was his girlfriend? He wasn’t smooth like Beck was, and the kiss at the hospital was probably the coolest he’d ever been.

Now, he was terrified.

Cat, however, knew what she wanted. She made it perfectly clear that she wanted to be with Robbie and pulled his arm around her, resting it on her hip as she snuggled against him and rested her head in the crook of his neck.

“What’s wrong?” she breathed quietly.

“W-what are you talking about?” Robbie stammered out.

Cat grabbed Robbie’s hand that held his red Solo cup and took the cup from him. She held his hand gently and looked up at him with her big, innocent eyes. “You act like you’re scared of me,” she told him honestly.

Robbie frowned and skeptically rubbed Cat’s bare arm. “I just…I—”

A lump began to form in his throat. He was never good at talking to people—that’s where Rex came in—and, if things worked out well, Cat would be his first girlfriend. He wasn’t suave and handsome like Beck, nor was he the epitome of smooth like André, so it was difficult for Robbie to talk to any girls, _especially_ Cat.

Robbie took in a deep breath. “What…are we, Cat?” he exhaled quietly.

Cat laughed slightly. “We’re people!” she exclaimed happily. “You know that!”

Robbie cleared his throat. “I meant…are we dating?”

Cat hummed contently and nuzzled back into Robbie’s neck. “I think we’re past that,” she answered seriously with a bright smile. She laced her fingers into his and stared down at his pale hands. “I really, really like you, Robbie; you mean a lot to me. When you were sleeping…I had a lot of time to think about things. I don’t love Daniel anymore, and I think I’m ready to love someone else.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I was thinking that someone might be you.”

Robbie smiled and gently kissed her lips. “I was thinking the same thing.” He kissed her nose. “I’d do anything for you.”

Cat smiled contently and scooted as close to Robbie as possible without sitting in his lap, rubbing her thumb along the back of his hand. “I’m just glad I get to sleep in your arms tonight,” she announced. “I really missed it!”

Robbie’s muscles tensed slightly and another lump started to form in his throat. “I…can’t tonight,” he told her reluctantly.

Cat pulled away from him with a hurt expression, taking her hand from him and supporting herself on the back of the couch. “But…why not?”

Robbie looked down at his empty hands and began to wring them. He knew he was going to have to tell her sooner or later, but he didn’t expect to do it in the middle of her party. He took in a deep breath. “Well,” he began sheepishly, “My parents…and I…think it would be best if I stayed at home for a little bit. I mean…I came out of a three month-long nap, and I have to do physical therapy so I can build up my muscles.” Slowly, he lifted his head and met her eyes. “I won’t be with them forever,” he assured her quickly, seeing the sadness in her eyes. “I just have to do my physical therapy, and that shouldn’t take too long. I can’t stay nights right now, but I will after that’s done; I’ll still visit you every day if you want.”

Cat sighed and looked at the cup in her hands. That wasn’t fair! Why did Jade get to have Beck living with her if Cat couldn’t have Robbie? Beck had his own stupid RV that he could live in. It wasn’t fair!

“I thought you were gonna live with me like Beck…” she trailed off.

Discouraged, Robbie put his hand on Cat’s knee. He started to speak when Trina popped her big, annoying head between them.

“You guys are missing the party!” she exclaimed happily.

“We’re talking,” Cat snapped coldly.

Trina gasped and Robbie’s back stiffened; neither of them expected the little redhead to ever snap at someone. Trina sneered once she got over her shock. “You didn’t have to be rude,” she spat, turning on her hair and flipping her hair like a diva. She stormed off, leaving Cat and Robbie to themselves.

That is, until Jade walked over and put her hand on Cat’s shoulder.

Cat turned around and smiled brightly at her friend. “Are you enjoying the party, Jade?” she inquired joyously.

Jade rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure,” she waved off. “Can we go talk upstairs?”

“Kay, kay!”

With Jade’s help, Cat pushed herself off the couch and went with Jade upstairs without even saying goodbye to Robbie. Jade led her to the first room she could find, which happened to be Cat’s room. She flipped on the light and moved with Cat to the bed. She helped Cat sit down before sitting down.

“What’s wrong?” Jade interrogated, cutting right to the point.

“Nothing,” Cat answered incredulously and wide-eyed.

“Don’t lie, Cat,” Jade demanded through grit teeth. Her face strained with agitation and her left eyebrow began to twitch. She closed her eyes and visibly calmed herself down quickly. “What’s with you and Robbie?” she asked once she opened her eyes.

Cat sighed and looked at her hands. “Robbie says he’s not staying with me,” she answered sadly.

Jade raised an eyebrow. “Do you mean in the house or with you in general?”

“In the house…”

Jade sighed tiredly. “Cat,” she began, grabbing her friend’s hand, “Robbie needs to be with his family as much as he needs to be with you. Let him stay there for a while and maybe he’ll come stay here.”

“Can he live her and sleep in my bed with me?” Cat asked in anticipation, raising her head with a bright smile.

Jade scoffed. “Whatever you want, Cat,” she retorted. “Just, don’t let it get to you, okay? Everyone has their own stuff they need to deal with.”

Cat lowered her head again. “Jade,” she called softly. “I…need your help.”

Jade half-grimaced. “What is it?”

Cat reached up into her bra and pulled out her phone. She held the dim pink device in her lap, turning it slightly so the light could hit it at different angles. She didn’t see Jade’s sneer of disgust.

“I need to call Daniel,” Cat announced. “But I don’t want to.”

Jade placed a reassuring hand on Cat’s shoulder. “Why do you need to call him?” she questioned.

Cat sighed and lay back on her bed. “When you were taken to the hospital,” she started, staring up at the ceiling and placing her hands and her phone on her stomach, “The doctor who took care of me when I hurt myself called me. He told me he had to meet me…and he told me that Cassie has this thing that makes her really small.”

Jade suppressed a smirk. “You’re small, Cat,” she pointed out.

Cat smiled slightly. “I know,” she replied. Her smile fell. “But…the doctor said that I might have something that makes her small…a trait. He said that if her daddy had the same trait…she might not live very long after I have her.” Tears started to well in her eyes and she turned her head from her friend, letting them roll down her cheek and over the bridge of her nose until they crashed onto her bedspread.

Jade moved and laid down on her side beside Cat. She wrapped her arm around the little redhead. “Cassie’s going to be okay,” she assured her. “If you want, I’ll hold your hand when you call him. I’ll…I’ll talk to him if you want me to and I’ll make him come down to the hospital. Then he’ll get tested and you’ll see that he doesn’t have the bad trait and Cassie will be just fine.”

Cat sniffled and turned her head to face Jade. “It’s my fault,” she breathed. “If Cassie doesn’t make it…it’s gonna be my fault.” A sob racked her body and Jade held Cat a little tighter.

“It’s _not_ your fault, Cat,” she stated adamantly. “You can’t control things like that.” She reached down to Cat’s stomach and grabbed her cell phone. “I’ll call Danny right now and we’ll go to the hospital right after the party, okay?”

Cat sniffled again and wiped away her tears. “Kay, kay,” she breathed softly.

* * *

_**When you have today, you should say all that you have to say** _

* * *

The party ended early, but not as early as the failed one on Saturday, so it was deemed a success. This time, everyone had their own ride or carpooled with other people. Then, Jade, her twins, Beck, and Cat made their way to the hospital for what seemed like an endless drive.

On the phone, Danny was shocked to hear Jade’s voice on the other line. And basically, she threatened him into going down to the hospital. In a way, she blackmailed him; she told him that he would be able to have visitation rights to see Cassie and he would have the option of forming an awkward business-like relationship with Cat as long as he came to get tested.

And now, thirty minutes later, Cat and Danny waited in a cramped little white room while Beck and Jade sat in the waiting room. She had offered to go in with Cat and hold her hand, but Cat declined; she said that she needed to go by herself since Danny would always be in her life if he wanted to be in Cassie’s, and Jade might not always be there to hold her hand.

“I’m sorry,” Danny mumbled as he looked down at his hands in his lap.

“What?” Cat asked as she reluctantly looked at him.

Danny cleared his throat. “I said…’I’m sorry’,” he answered as he looked her in the eye. “I’m sorry for everything…for getting you pregnant and leaving you…for trying to take you back when you’d moved on. I ruined your life, Cat, and…I’m really sorry.”

Cat smiled weakly. “I don’t blame you for anything that happened,” she announced, placing her hand on her stomach. “I love my little girl and…I guess I’m glad you gave her to me. Whatever else doesn’t matter…”

Danny wanted to say something else, but Dr. Nordstrom entered the ridiculously cramped room. He wore a pleased expression, like he had good news.

“We compared your results,” he announced as he sat in the chair across the desk from Cat and Danny. “Mr. Kerrigan, you and Ms. Valentine are very lucky; while she carries the trait for achondroplasia, you don’t. Your daughter may be a few inches shorter than you’d hoped, but she’ll otherwise be healthy and go on to live a full life.”

Cat gasped, grinning ear to ear.

There were so many things she wanted to say. She wanted to jump for joy, to do a somersault, and to scream to the heavens all at once. Her little girl was going to be okay! She’d have a short little Mini-Cat! She squealed loudly and held Danny’s hand tightly.

Danny smiled in relief and tried to hide the pain he felt from Cat’s tight grip. When Jade called him, he prayed that he wouldn’t have whatever the doctor called it so he wouldn’t pass it down to Cassie, and he didn’t! Now he was going to be a part of his little girl’s life; he would get to raise the life he helped create. And while he couldn’t be with Cat, he still loved her. He knew there wasn’t anything he could do to win her back, but he vowed to be there for his daughter; he would always be in her life and he wouldn’t run away. And maybe, somewhere down the line, he hoped that he would get back together with Cat and they could be a family.

But for now, he would be a dedicated father.


	21. Together Burning Bright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The last chapter!

* * *

_“I get the feeling it's alright, now. I get the feeling it will be okay. Just close your eyes, 'cause we are only sparks. But together, burning bright.” – The Used_

* * *

“Why can’t I ever do anything for them?” Beck questioned loudly. Now he sat upright in the bed, his messy hair pointing in every direction.

Jade stood in the doorway, her arms crossed. “Because I can handle them,” she stated snippily. From the nursery, she could hear Darla crying her little lungs out. After a few weeks with them, Jade could tell the difference between their cries.

Beck shoved the covers off and stood. The sight of him in only his boxers temporarily made Jade forget about the crying babies in the other room. But the still-lingering six week sex restriction reminded her that jumping his bones was a ‘no.’

“I understand not letting anyone else touch them,” he began, “But I’m their father! I should be allowed to pick up my kids and soothe them when they’re crying.”

“ _I’m_ their mother,” Jade reminded. “They came out of _me_ , not you. They need me!”

Beck moved to her and gently put his arms around her waist. “I’m not going to hurt them,” he assured her. “I would never do anything to hurt you or them; you know that.”

Jensen started to cry as well and Jade was beginning to get irritated; it was harder to soothe Jensen than it was to soothe Darla and it would take twice as long to put them back to sleep.

Jade pushed Beck away softly. “We’ll talk about this later,” she told him. But in reality, they would never pick up the topic again if she had any say in the matter.

Beck, however, knew Jade by now. He grabbed her by her wrist as she turned to leave. “Stop,” he demanded. Jade looked back at him with sheer disgust and tried to pull her arm away, but Beck held on tightly. “My name is on their birth certificates,” he yelled. “In the court of law, I am their father and I am allowed to hold them and take care of them! If you didn’t want me to be here for them, then why did you agree to marry me?”

“Because I love you!” Jade screamed, obviously.

“Well you don’t act like it!” Beck countered. His voice was louder than normal, far from his usual calmed state. “You treat me like I’m a criminal!”

With all her strength, Jade snatched her wrist free from Beck’s grip. “If you’re gonna act like a drama queen then I’m sleeping in the nursery tonight,” she spat. She stormed off down the hall, picked up the pace when Beck began to follow her, and slammed the door in his face, locking it so he wouldn’t get in.

Jade refused to leave the nursery for the rest of the night.

* * *

**_It helps to know you’re right here by my side_ **

* * *

When she woke up, Jade stared up at the light green ceiling and scowled. She hated this God-awful color, but she had no say in the matter. If she felt like it, she’d change it; from the looks of it, the nursery might become her permanent sleeping quarters.

Beck didn’t understand; he never would.

As she turned to get up off the floor where she’d been sleeping, her neck felt stiffed. Slowly, she sat up and placed her hand on her chin, popping her neck. She sighed with relief and stood up. Behind her, she heard faint noises coming from the crib where her children slept toe to toe. She leaned over the crib with a warm smile. “Good morning, angels,” she greeted in a delighted whisper. “Mommy won’t let anyone hurt you. She’ll die before that happens.”

* * *

**_It helps to know you’re right here by my side_ **

* * *

 (3/28/2012)

_Dear Diary,_

_You’ll never guess what happened today! Jade had her twins!_

_We were having our double baby shower that Tori was throwing for us and Jade left to go home I think and then like 20 minutes later, Beck calls and says that we had to go to the hospital! He also said Jade was in trouble…_

_When I got to the hospital with Tori and her dad, Jade was asleep and her babies were in another part of the hospital. Beck said they needed special care because they were ‘premature’ and no one could go see them yet._

_And while I was going to go see Jade, guess what happened!_

_Robbie woke up and found me! He hugged me and kissed me and I felt so happy! I thought he would never wake up and he did!_

_He sat holding my hand while we waited for Jade and we got to see her babies together!_

_My doctor also told me that Cassie has this thing that’s gonna make her really short. She gets the ‘trait’ from me, and if Daniel has it…she may not live very long… I don’t want my baby to die! I want to hold her and kiss her and love her and watch her grow up, even if she’s only four feet tall…_

_I was really sad and scared, but Robbie was there for me. I think…I think I really love him._

_Cassie jumped in my tummy! I think she’s telling me to go to sleep. I don’t want to, but I have to. Goodnight!_

_XOXO,_

_Cat_

* * *

**_It helps to know you’re right here by my side_ **

* * *

(3/29/2012)

_Dear Diary,_

_Beck told me we were supposed to bring Jade and Robbie home…and her babies! But we did something else before we went to pick them up. WE PAINTED THE NEW HOUSE THAT BECK BOUGHT!!!_

_Painting was so fun! Me and Beck got REALLY messy and I loved it! I painted really pretty things in the nursery and if babies could talk, they would say “I love this, Cat. You did a good job!” and I’d smile at them because they’re so sweet!_

_When we got to the hospital, I had to sit in the car while Beck got Robbie, Jade, Darla, and Jensen. That’s what she named her twins! I wanted to play with them, but Jade doesn’t like me touching them very much. Then she told me that Robbie went home with his parents before we got there and I almost cried. I really wanted to hug him again and kiss him and sleep on his shoulder and…_

_Tori planned another baby shower for me when we got to our new house! Robbie and all our friends were there, too! I didn’t pay much attention to the party, though. I just wanted to be with Robbie. But he was being silly and acting really scared. I’d never hurt him. I love him!_

_He made me really upset when he told me he wasn’t going to be moving in like Beck moved in with Jade…_

_Then I got upset because Trina was being really rude and Jade made me go upstairs. I had to tell her about Daniel and she called him for me and we ended the party early so we could go to the hospital to see about Cassie._

_I was so happy when I found out she was okay! I get to have my healthy little girl!_

_Well, I’m gonna try to sleep. It’ll be hard without Robbie…_

_XOXO,_

_Cat_

* * *

**_It helps to know you’re right here by my side_ **

* * *

(4/9/2012)

_Dear Diary,_

_I hate being pregnant!_

_I can’t take it anymore. I just want my baby and I want her NOW!_

_I’m so upset about everything and I can’t stand it. Everything makes me really mad or really, really sad. I got so mad that I…SWORE…at Tori! I feel so bad about it. But she was really annoying me…even though she wasn’t doing anything…_

_I keep having these things called ‘Braxton Hicks contractions’ and they make me even angrier because they HURT! When they first started, I thought I was going into labor because I read part of a book that said they get REALLY bad cramps and they’re called contractions. Jade says those are fake contractions and they happen sometimes. She said that when it feels like I peed on myself but it isn’t yellow, that’s when I’m gonna have my little girl._

_I really wish that Robbie could stay with me more, but he has to do his stupid physical therapy. He came back to school after Spring Break, but he had to leave after lunch every day to go to physical therapy. He says he won’t be doing full days of school for a while and that makes me really sad._

_Jade’s really annoying me, too. She’s being really overprotective and I don’t like it! Because she had Darla and Jensen, Jade was allowed to stay home as long as she kept up with her school work. At first, I wasn’t happy about not having Jade around, but the constant nagging texts made it feel like Jade was right there with me! Most of the texts consisted of ‘Are you okay?’ and a lot of ‘Where are you?’_

_Sometimes, I wouldn’t respond to the texts and Jade would send worried texts demanding to know where I was, and they wouldn’t stop until I answered them! She even bugged me about if I was eating or not. She calls me at lunch every day to make sure I’m being healthy even though she knows I’ve been just fine!_

_Things at home aren’t much better…_

_If Beck and I aren’t home by a certain time, Jade calls both of us repeatedly, begging to know where we are. If we don’t pick up, she leaves angry voicemails, threatening us both. And when we get home, Jade yells at them for being late. Sometimes it scares me, but lately I’ve been getting really angry at her. A lot of times, I yell back at her and waddle up the stairs as fast as I can._

_A lot of times, I go to bed really angry and lock myself away in my room._

_I’ll be glad when I have Cassie so Jade will leave me alone. I love her to death, but if Jade tries to tell me how to raise my little girl, I’ll kill her!_

_JADE IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!_

_I can't take it anymore! She's so man and rude and hateful and I can't take it. First she was always telling at me, but now she won't stop yelling at Beck. Every night they argue about Darla and Jensen because she won't let him touch them either. Beck doesn't usually yell, but Jade makes him really angry now. He can't change the babies' diapers, he can't feed them, and he can't do anything that involves putting his hands on them._

_It's okay for Jade to stay in the nursery all the time with the twins, so I'm gonna stay in my room all the time when Cassie comes. Robbie says that he might be able to spend more nights with me next month if he keeps going to physical therapy like he's doing now, so he can sleep there with me and Cassie!_

_You can’t hear it, but I’m sighing. I guess I’m gonna try to go to bed. Goodnight…_

_XOXO,_

_Cat_

* * *

**_It helps to know you’re right here by my side_ **

* * *

_(4/23/2012)_

_Dear Diary,_

_Tori gave birth today! I was walking with her and Andre to go to our free period and she grabbed our arms really hard. She said her water broke last night and now the baby was coming! Andre told me to go get a teacher or someone while he helped Tori get into Sikowitz' room. It's a good thing we were walking past it!_

_When I came back with Principal Helen, Andre had put Tori on the stage and had her legs open. Principal Helen told me and Andre to stand outside with the door closed and told one of us to call the hospital to come get her._

_The paramedics got here just as Tori had her little boy. I saw him just before they took her away and he was so cute! He was a lot bigger than Darla and Jensen, and Tori named him Antonio David Vega. Maybe she'll change his name if they get married!_

_I'm kinda happy but kinda scared at the same time that Tori had her baby. I'm happy put because she gets to hold baby Antonio now, but she got pregnant five weeks after I did and Cassie isn't supposed to be here for a few more weeks. Jade says that 'premature' babies have a smaller chance of getting to grow up. I didn't get to really SEE Antonio, but I bet he's really small..._

_I already had one scare like that and I don't want another one! I've made up my mind that Cassie isn't coming out until the 20th._

_I really want the best for Cassie. It's gonna be hard having a baby in high school, but I'll make it work. Tomorrow feels like it's gonna be big, so I'm gonna go to sleep._

_I'm really scared now..._

_XOXO,_

_Cat_

* * *

**_It helps to know you’re right here by my side_ **

* * *

Like her mother, Cat loved baking. Usually, Cat only baked to feel better when she was sad; lately, she'd been making everyone else sad, including her mother, so she hoped sweets would make everyone happy again.

As she stood in the kitchen, Beck and Jade were upstairs arguing again; Beck wanted to take the twins to the park to get some fresh air since they hadn't left the house since they got there, but Jade wasn't having it. So they were having another fight.

Lucky for Cat, she couldn't hear them very well in the kitchen and made a lot of noise to drown them out.

Most recently, she'd hurt her mother's feelings; her mother had suggested new names for Cassie and was trying to give Cat a little too much advice on how to raise her little girl. Cat yelled at her and told her mother to mind her own damn business—those words exactly—and adamantly told her mother that her child was going to be named Cassidy Sloane Valentine, and if Cat needed her mother's help, she would ask. Until then, her mother should be quiet.

After her mother stormed out of the house and Cat calmed down, she cried over being so mean and thought of ways to apologize to her mom.

As it was now, Cat was making her mother's favorite Butter Pecan Vanilla Bean fudge. Her mother always ate the stuff when she was in a bad mood, and Cat was sure it would be a great apology gift.

Once she had mixed all the ingredients and was about to put the fudge in the freezer to set, Cat felt a warm liquid rush down her legs and pool around her blue flats.

Cat gasped loudly and almost dropped the pan of fudge. She looked down at the pink-tinted, clear liquid and screamed.

It was happening!

Why now? Why couldn't Cassie come when she was supposed to? This wasn't right! She had a few more weeks left!

"Cat!" Beck called.

Cat staggered backward and managed to throw the fudge on the counter before gripping the sides of the granite tightly. She closed her eyes as her knees began to shake, but heard Beck bounding down the stairs.

She wanted to plead for him to take her to the hospital, but her words failed her, only allowing to scream. Tears fell from her eyes and she could hardly breathe.

Beck ran into the kitchen, Jade not far behind. He called out to her again, but the blood rushing in Cat's ears made it nearly impossible to hear him.

Beck turned back to Jade and said something to her that Cat couldn't hear. She disappeared around the corner and Beck ran over to Cat. He gently placed his arms on her shoulders and tried to soothe her, but she was too distraught to listen.

"She's coming!" Cat finally managed to yell. She opened her eyes and her hands shot to Beck's arms. " _Help me_!"

Beck nodded hastily and helped Cat get outside. She stopped him before he could get her out of the kitchen, though.

"The fudge," she strained, pointing at the pan on the counter. "Refrigerator."

Confused, Beck skeptically grabbed the pan and put it in the fridge. "Now can we go?" he asked in a rush.

Cat nodded and shakily grabbed his arm. She couldn't move very fast because of her contractions, but Beck steadily ushered her song. He led her to the front seat of his truck and closed the door for her before running back into the house to retrieve Jade and the twins.

* * *

**_It helps to know you’re right here by my side_ **

* * *

When everyone was in the car, Cat screamed for someone to call her mother and Robbie. Jade shifted the babies around in the back seat—because they didn't have any car seats yet—and called both of them as Beck drove.

Robbie's parents got him to the hospital not five minutes after Cat had been admitted. Now, he was able to walk with the help of a cane, a very significant improvement considering the length of his previous comatose state. He hobbled as fast as he could to the reception desk and asked for Cat in a ridiculous jumble. The receptionist told him only the father or her family was allowed in the ER and Jade assured her that Robbie was the father.

Robbie hobbled back to where Cat was and entered a room full of green-scrubbed doctors ready for delivery.

"Robbie!" Cat exclaimed breathlessly. She was already drenched in sweat and her brown, red-tipped hair started to curl. She reached her hand out to him and he moved to her to hold it.

"I'm here," he told her. "I'm not going anywhere."

Cat inhaled sharply and squeezed Robbie's hand tightly as a contraction took over. Robbie screamed in pain and a doctor moved between Cat's legs.

"The baby's starting to crown," Dr. Nordstrom announced. He looked up to Robbie. "I'm going to ask your wife to push, and I need you to keep her calm."

Robbie nodded and Cat screamed as soon as Dr. Nordstrom instructed her to push. And, out of sheer curiosity, he looked over to see what was happening.

He fainted as soon as he saw the blood.

"Robbie?!" Cat cried. She strained to look over and freaked out when she saw him lying on the ground. She fell back into her bed with a distressed sigh. She clenched her eyes shut and tightly gripped the sheets as another contraction took over.

_"I want my mommy!"_

* * *

**_It helps to know you’re right here by my side_ **

* * *

Alicia Valentine arrived with her son at the hospital twenty minutes after she got the call from her daughter's scary little friend that Cat was in labor. When she entered the hospital, she saw Danny, Beck, Jade, and two babies in Jade’s arms. An unconscious boy—whom she assumed was named ‘Richie’—was carried out of the ER and placed at Beck’s feet.

Alicia ran up to the receptionist, her red high heels clicking loudly. She slammed her hands down on the desk. “Where is Caterina Valentine?” she asked hurriedly.

“You can’t go back there,” the receptionist said, a heavy amount of sass in her voice. “Only family is allowed in the ER.”

Alicia sneered. “I’m her mother,” she spat, turning on her heels and walking through the large double doors. Bryce walked over to where the awkward group sat and eyed Robbie with a confused look.

“He was stupid enough to look when Cat started crowning,” Jade announced as she bounced the twins on her legs.

Bryce nodded with a slightly disbelieving grin. He looked at the sleeping boy and looked back up at Jade. “Nice kids,” he announced, taking the seat beside Danny.

As Alicia walked down the long hall filled with emergency rooms, she heard Cat cry out.

_“I want my mommy!”_

Alicia gasped and ran down the hall, trying to find her daughter. She ran as fast as she could in her stilettoes, making a terrible racket as she tried not to break a heel. She looked into every window of every room as she ran and burst through the doors of the room at the end of the hall once she’d found her daughter.

“I’m here, baby,” she called out breathlessly. She hustled over to her daughter and grabbed Cat’s outstretched hand. She removed pieces of matted hair away from Cat’s face and smiled. “I’m right here.”

Tears fell from Cat’s eyes and she hyperventilated slightly. “I’m…so…scared,” she sobbed out.

Alicia leaned over and kissed her daughter’s forehead. “I know you are, baby,” she whispered. “Everything’s gonna be okay…”

“Miss Valentine,” Dr. Nordstrom called. “You’re ready to push again.”

Cat looked up to her mom with terrified eyes, and Alicia nodded in approval. “You’re gonna be okay, baby.”

Cat took a deep breath and strained as she tried to push the baby out, squeezing her mother’s hand tightly. She grit her teeth, trying to block out the scream of pain rising in her throat, but it still came out in a muffled racket.

She could literally _feel_ the curve of Cassie’s shoulders as she pushed out her baby and Cat screamed as loud as she could. Her mother held Cat’s hand tightly and gently rubbed Cat’s forehead in an attempt to soothe her.

“I just need one more big push,” Dr. Nordstrom told her when Cat fell back on the bed and breathed heavily. “She’s almost out.”

Cat sighed in relief. “It hurts _so much_ ,” she whined tiredly.

“You’re almost done,” Dr. Nordstrom assured her. “Just give me another push right now.”

With all her strength, Cat pushed as much as she could, digging her nails into her sheet and her mother’s hand. Her mother showed no signs of pain and placed her hand on her daughter’s back to help her out.

When Cat heard her daughter cry, she smiled and lay back on her bed. She let go of her mother’s hand and smiled up at her.

Alicia walked around Cat’s bed and marveled at the crying baby girl. She smiled and looked back at Cat. “She’s so beautiful, Kitten,” she announced, “Just like you.”

Cat reached her hands out. “Can I hold her?” she begged.

Dr. Nordstrom chuckled slightly. “Let us clean her up and weigh her first,” he suggested. He looked to Alicia as a nurse came over with a pair of surgical scissors. “Would you like to cut the cord?”

Alicia’s eyes lit up and she quickly took the scissors from the nurse. She cut Cassie’s umbilical cord and then the darling little angel was taken to be cleaned.

* * *

**_It helps to know you’re right here by my side_ **

* * *

Getting rid of the afterbirth was disgusting and Cat didn’t want to talk about.

The nurses gave Cat her baby after weighing and cleaning her, and Cassie came in at 8 pounds even. Then the nurses wheeled Cat’s bed upstairs into the elevator and took her upstairs. Alicia was allowed to be in the room with Cat while she recuperated and helped put the crying baby at ease. She even helped Cat situate the baby for breastfeeding.

And ten minutes later, visitors were allowed in her room. Cassie slept peacefully in her mother’s arms and Cat kept her disbelieving eyes locked on the sleeping baby.

Jade walked in first, Darla and Jensen propped in her arms. Beck came in with Danny right behind, Robbie supporting himself on Beck’s shoulders.

“Hey, Cat,” Jade greeted in a whisper as she moved to the bed. “How are you feeling?”

Cat smiled softly. “Sore,” she replied. “But now I have my precious little girl.”

Jade smiled at Cassie. “She’s so pretty, Cat,” Jade marveled.

“I love her so much,” Cat breathed. “Everything that’s happened over the past nine months doesn’t matter anymore because I have her.”

“What’s her name?” Danny asked as he stood beside Cat.

“Cassie,” she answered, looking down at the sleeping angel. “But her full name is Cassidy Sloane Valentine.” She looked up at Danny with bright eyes. “Do you want to hold her?”

Danny smiled in disbelief and reached out to grab the baby girl. He picked her up out of her mother’s arms, supporting her head with his arm, and a tear came to his eye. “I’ll be a good daddy for you,” he told the newborn. “I’ll visit you all the time and we’re gonna do so much stuff together.” Danny kissed Cassie’s forehead and gave her back to her mother.

Seeing Cat and Danny, Jade sighed. She looked to Beck for a brief moment and nudged his shoulder. He looked back at her and she looked at her babies before looking back at him. Then, reluctantly, she handed them over to Beck and he held them safely, treasuring them like Jade knew he would. She kissed his cheek and moved closer to Cat.

Jade knelt by Cat’s bed and Cat offered Cassie to her. Trying to fight back another smile, Jade took the newborn. “Your mom means a lot to all of us,” she said quietly, “Even me. Now you mean a lot to us, too. We love you, Cassie.”

* * *

**_It helps to know you’re right here by my side_ **

* * *

**August 18, 2013**

_Cat and Tori were lucky; they gave birth at the end of the school year and had an entire summer to spend with their kids. And while none of us wanted to start off senior year with toddlers on our hips, we had our boyfriends there to help us through it._

_Needless to say, senior year wasn’t my favorite; it was hard on all six of us, but everyone made it through in one piece._

_By the end of the year, Cat and I had been accepted to UCLA while Beck decided to attend the nearby community college so he could be closer to the babies. Once she found out she was pregnant, Tori threw out her thoughts of going to college; a higher education didn’t matter to her at that point. However, she enrolled in online classes to appease her parents, and André did the same in order to focus on his music. Robbie had applied to several schools—his heart set on USC—but chose to attend the same community college with Beck._

_Almost a year ago, Robbie moved in with us and now he sleeps in Cat’s room. As much as I hate to say it, they’re actually…cute. Cat doesn’t cry as much as she used to, and she’s pretty happy. Cassie always cries a lot, but Cat is always right there to make her feel better. And—I’ll never tell this to anyone—it’s really sweet of Cat to use ‘Sloane’ as Cassie’s middle name. I really like that name, but it didn’t look right for Darla._

_Since Danny kept his word, I kept mine and let him come over to the house. He treats Cat well and he’s being a really good father to Cassie. He doesn’t say much when he comes over and he usually just sits on the couch with Cassie, talking to her and reading to her. If he did anything else, I’d probably kill him._

_My brother’s still in jail and that’s where I hope he’ll stay._

_Sometimes I think I should visit him, and something in me says I should take the twins to see them. But then I remember how much I hate Liam. He’ll never see them as long as I live and, if they ask, I’ll tell Darla and Jensen that Beck is their father, even if they grow up to look nothing like him._

_Well, I start school tomorrow and I have a class at eight, a god-awful time._

_So yeah,_

_Jade_

 

Jade saved the document and closed her laptop. Beck was already fast asleep and Jade smirked at how adorable he was when he slept. She put her laptop on her bedside table and started to turn out her light when her hand grazed the top of a photo frame.

Jade picked up the frame and ran her fingers over the glass. She had framed the photo from when she was younger, the one that had her mother smiling brightly. She smiled slightly at how happy her mother looked with her husband’s arm draped on her shoulder, her daughter on her hip, and her son’s hand tightly gripping her own. She sighed happily and put the picture back on her bedside table.

As Jade turned out the light and lay in her bed, she knew that everything was gonna be alright.


End file.
